


Hand Over Fist

by mantisbelle



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boxing, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Bittersweet Ending, Crime Dads, Light Angst, M/M, Sexual Content, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:44:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 72
Words: 272,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantisbelle/pseuds/mantisbelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xiong's Fitness and Training has been an established business within Vale for twenty years now, churning out decent boxers in its years. When the business begins to flounder, he's forced to turn to anyone that will help. But what does a cocky club promoter know about boxing? And why is finding a new champion so hard? Is making a profit even possible?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eight Count

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this is coming from but I love it. Anyways, boxing AU! There will be a few background relationships in this fic, mainly IronQrow and Poly STR. 
> 
> I honestly had to rewrite this chapter about five times, which was annoying but it's no skin off of my back really. I just hope people enjoy it! Depending on how things go, I'll add more tags and edit those as needed. Light Angst is one that probably will end up wrong, if my usual work is any indicator...
> 
> Anyways! Boxing Au!

In the back of a dusty old gym, Hei Xiong was bent over a pile of paperwork. His clothing was rumpled, his pants were a pair of loose workout pants and his shirt an old tee that hung off his body awkwardly. On the other side of the desk, sat one of the few trainers at the gym, who was pouring over the paperwork with blue eyes obscured behind reading glasses and a grimace.

"Junior." The man's voice was tight. Restrained. "You're in trouble."

"I know."

"I'm serious, Junior." A gloved hand folded one of the sheets of paper in half, setting it back down on the table between the two of them. "This isn't going to go away."

Junior reaches out, taking the now folded paper from his associate, James, and reading it over for what felt like the thousandth time. "James, what are we supposed to do?" He looks up at the man across the table from him, catching his blue eyes. "We can't afford this."

James sighs, shifting in his seat and exhales. "I don't know, Junior." He looks at the piles of bills and tax paperwork that were scattered across the desk in front of them. "But as things stand, you aren't bringing in enough people in classes and matches alone to operate at this level. Not to mention paying your employees."

"We could let someone go?" The words burn on Junior's tongue and he can almost feel a stinging sensation in his eyes. It's the last thing that he wants to do. He'd rather go under than have to let his employees go.

"Who?" James' face is deadly serious. "Junior, you have two regular employees."

"I-" Junior closes his mouth again, jaw clenching in frustration. "I don't know what to do."

His dark eyes went up and he watched as James stood up with a wince, walking to a filing cabinet and opening it up, looking for something inside. Junior was about to open his mouth to say something when he realized that James had removed some sort of business ledger from the cabinet and was setting it down on the desk before slowly sinking back into the chair that he'd been using. 

"Junior, it's entirely possible that without getting a lot of new customers, there's nothing that you can do immediately." James' voice is hard, something that Junior knew after a lifetime of friendship was a defense mechanism of James'. "But, I'm going to look through your records. See if there's any... discrepancies." James flipped the page, leaning in and scanning it for something in particular. 

Junior sighs, crossing his arms and pressing one hand to his mouth as he watched James. All at once, the world started to melt away from Junior as he realized how bad things were. He and James both should have gone home hours ago, they shouldn't have been in this office until eleven at night. He watched James, watching as his slightly older friend would flip from page to page, running a gloved finger down it and taking notes down once in a while.

He could feel the beat of his heart against his chest. 

The ticking of the clock rang in his ears. 

Junior stood up straight, not sure what he could say or do. He was a boxer, he made most of his money when he was younger fighting, he'd never learned the ins and outs of running a business. It was part of the reason that James would come to the gym every day to help him. He shook his head, exhaling quietly and went to the door of the office, pulling it open. 

"Hey, Jim, I'm going to-" 

James scratches a note down, and looks up at Junior, then to the door. "There's probably cleanup that needs to be done." James says. "I think some towels need to be washed."

It was a lie. 

Junior knew fully well that he'd washed the towels that morning, that most of the gym was next to spotless. But Junior also knew that this was a case of James trying to offer him a distraction. "Right." Junior answers with a low sigh before stepping out of the office, closing the door behind him to leave James to their paperwork.

The gym was empty, its few patrons and workers having already gone home for the night hours before. The ring stood in the middle, the only really well lit part of the room, it's canvas looking flawless. Come daytime, nobody would be able to see the spotlights. It would be filled with a rotation of fighters and students. People looking to make money. People looking for stress relief. 

If things were really as dire as James said, if they really were as deep in the hole as it looked, Junior didn't know what he was supposed to do. 

He frowned, but went to the tiny cleaning closet, opening it up and seeing a mop and bucket that had been haphazardly tossed in earlier that day. He looked on a shelf, finding a clean washcloth and some all purpose cleaner. He stepped out of the closet, leaving it open and crossed the gym for a trophy case that was near the entrance. 

He reached into his pocket, finding the keys to the gym and unlocked the case, pushing the glass pane aside as he reached in with the washcloth to remove any dust from the many framed photos and trophies that rested inside. He picked up the first thing he looked at, an old gold medal with the name Hei Xiong scrawled haphazardly on the back in untidily engraved Chinese. 

He set it back down and went to grab a stool, since he didn't know how long it would take for James to finish his work. With the stool placed beside the case, Junior sat down, picked up the gold medal, and began to polish the back, carefully trying to work the cleaner into every groove, nook, and cranny of the medal. He wanted it to be flawless, regardless of how many people would see it.

Junior didn't know how long he sat there, trying to polish the medal before he set it down and checked a clock on the far side of the gym for the time. It was nearly midnight. 

He'd have to be getting him and James home sooner than later. It was important they got their rest in this line of work. 

He groans and reaches back into the case, removing a framed photograph of three men, all smiling widely with the two on the sides holding up their medals. Gold and bronze, respectively. He pauses, reaching out and running a finger over it to check for dust and finding that he came away with a fine layer of dust that covered his finger. 

He was about to put his washcloth to the glass when he heard the office door open. He looked up to see James, looking exhausted and leaning against the side of the doorframe. The older man's face looked worried. 

Oh.

So it wasn't good, then.

Junior quickly wiped down the photograph and set it inside of the cabinet again before going to James. He stood next to the door, hesitant before looking down at his friend. "So?"

"The numbers checked out, Junior." James answered. "There was something that we'll need to talk about, but it can wait until tomorrow." 

"Alright." Junior sighed, exhaustion beginning to show on his voice. "You should get your things. We should be heading home." 

"Right." James said as he stood up properly. "Mind driving tonight?"

"Never do, Jim." Junior said, watching as James got his things with a slight limp in his step. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad." James mumbled as he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. "But... I don't think it's impossible for you to get out of this." 

"Really?"

"Yeah." James answered. "With some... creative advertising maybe we could bring in more students and make the money up that way." 

Junior opens his mouth so say something but finds himself quickly clamping it back shut, how unsure he was reading visibly on his face. "Do you know anything about advertising?" He stares James down, not sure what James' training actually was despite the fact that he'd known the man his entire life. James handled the business side of things. He'd also made fliers in the past but Junior got the sinking feeling that that was in fact that extent of James' advertising experience.

He halfway expected James' answer. "Not a thing." He sounded frustrated, tired. Lost. "But... I'm going to look into things. See what you actually can do in this."

Junior looked around the gym, scanning it for anything that needed to be done and his eyes following on the old trophy case that he'd left open, rag resting on top of it and probably becoming covered in a layer of dust. For a moment, Junior realized that he didn't know what his life would be like if it wasn't for the gym. 

He couldn't bear to lose it. 

Junior looks at James, then back at the washcloth and the trophy case. "I'll close that up and then if you want we should head home." His grey eyes flicked up to James', looking for something that he couldn't identify. 

"Right." James said. "Go do that. I'll..."

"I'll see you in the car." Junior cuts him off, knowing that it was probably welcome in this case. He reaches into his pocket and removed the set of keys that would let James into the car that they'd taken to work together that morning. "It'll be just a minute." 

The shorter of the two men reached out and took the keys, stepping back into the office halfway so that he could get any documents that he wanted to take home with him for the night. Junior watched silently as James disappeared behind a worn out wooden door, able to hear the sound of paperwork rustling and the sound of James' uneven steps. 

He shakes the thought from his mind and went back to the trophy cabinet, starting by removing the stool and putting it back over by the ring where it belonged, effectively removing it from the pathway that led in and out of the gym. Next, he goes to the cabinet, picking up the bottle of cleaner and the dirty washcloth and shoves them under his arm. With everything he needed removed from the area, Junior carefully slides the glass door of the cabinet closed, staring at the many photographs, newspaper clippings, posters, trophies and medals that were all inside. 

He felt a pain clench in his chest that had gripped him every time he looked at this cabinet for the last three years. 

On the other side of the gym, he heard the sound of James closing the office door behind him. 

James' uneven steps as he was approached. 

Soft, hard, soft, hard. 

James' voice. 

"Are you ready?" 

Junior hesitates and turns his head away from the cabinet to look at James, nodding slowly. "Yeah." He goes to the broom closet, putting his cleaning supplies back inside and closing the door. "I'm ready." 

Together, the pair left the gym. Junior subconsciously found himself slowing his steps, letting James take the lead and stops at the door to make sure that the gym was locked up safe and sound for the rest of the night ahead. By the time the door was locked, James was already at the car, unlocking it and sliding into his seat slowly. 

Junior got in on the driver's side as he almost always did on these long days. It was just a part of his and James' routine. He liked it, he liked how stable things were. He didn't want to change that and risk throwing someone else off as well. 

With a sigh, Junior made himself comfortable in the seat, offering his hand and feeling James drop the set of keys in his hand. Satisfied, Junior starts the car, hearing it rumble to life, if with some difficulties. Slowly, he backs out of the parking lot, and he and James drove back to their apartment building in relative silence. 

It wasn't a long drive to reach the apartment buildings on Gould Street. James and Junior were lucky, to have their building as far away from the street as they did. It meant that things were a bit quieter than they would have been otherwise, which made things more comfortable as a consequence. Junior pulled into their parking spot, which was marked with a blue sign and parked the car, the first to step out while James came as well, though at a slower pace. 

The two stepped inside, with Junior going straight to the elevator as he and James always did at the end of the day. James stepped inside, leaning against he back wall while Junior hit the button that would bring them up to their shared apartment on the second floor of the building. Once in a while, Junior would find himself tempted to look over, check that James was alright.

He knew that he didn't have to. 

He also knew that James didn't like people trying to look after him.

That didn't stop Junior from worrying though.

The elevator dinged to a stop at the second floor, and quietly James and Junior went to their apartment, the second on the right away from the elevator. Junior opens the door, stepping inside and immediately kicking off his shoes before going to the kitchen to get himself a beer. At the door, James quietly, leaned down, carefully removing his shoes and straightening them at the door before venturing past the small rug that they'd set out at the door to catch any dirt before it made it any further in. 

"You want one?" Junior called to James from the kitchen. 

"I don't think I should tonight." James called back as he stepped in, going to the pantry so that he could find himself something to eat that night. He watched as James stopped at the small bulletin board by the counter that held their notes about what was going on and a small calendar. New on the board was a note, written in messy handwriting on a light green post it note. 

'I brought you two dinner.' It began. 'There should be rice, chicken, and vegetables in the fridge for you two. With love, Mom.'

James looked at the note, then back to Junior. "Your mom came by today." 

"Shit." Junior answered, turning to face James, who was turning over the post it note to see if there were any extra messages written on the back. Sure enough, there was. "Anything else?"

"Don't forget to do your dishes." James looked away from the note to the sink, seeing that the dishes that had been there that morning had been removed, cleaned, and set into a drying rack. 

He shrugged, tacking the note back up where it belonged and turned to Junior, who was presently uncapping a beer and watching him. “Should probably call her in the morning.”  

It wasn't a request. Junior knew James well enough to know that. 

"Yeah." Junior answers, drinking deeply from his beer and leaning against the wall to watch as James opened up the refrigerator and began removing several plastic containers of food from inside, setting them down on the counter at his side one by one. Soon, he was closing the door to the fridge, two bottles of sauce in hand and setting them down on the counter as well. 

Silently, James worked, removing two clean plates from the dishrack and setting them down while also putting the containers of food into the microwave one by one, programming them to cook for oddly specific numbers that Junior would never have thought to set to use to cook anything.  With the food reheating, James relaxed for just a moment, slipping the white glove that he used to cover up his robotic hand off and shoving it into a pocket. 

It's several minutes, but all of James and Junior's dishes were put away, save for the few that would inevitably be carrying their meals. Junior was on his second sip of beer when he saw James opening a drawer and removing silverware, placing large spoons in the tupperware containers and setting forks on their plates. 

He heard James sigh as he stepped away from the food. 

"It's ready." James mumbles, stepping out of their tiny kitchen for a minute to go do something else. Junior didn't question it. James probably just wanted some space. Felt like he was being watched. 

Junior went to the plates, picking up the one on the right and began spooning food onto it before going out to the living room with his meal. He sat down at the worn out coffee table and waited, not wanting to start eating without James there yet. He waits, hearing James' uneven steps as the man who was as close to him as a brother moved around the apartment.

James came back in, crossing from the bedroom on the right side of the apartment through the kitchen to get to the kitchen and get his own food. When James joined him again, the man sat down carefully on the couch, sinking into place slowly, a sign that James wasn't feeling that well at that point in the evening. It had been a rough day. 

Junior could understand that. 

He stared down at his rice, hesitated, then looked up at James. "You feeling alright?" 

With a shiver, James answered, voice strained. "Hip." Its all he has to say, and it explains everything to Junior. "It's been... it's been hurting since lunch." 

Junior frowned. "James-"

"I know." James cut him off, not willing to look up at Junior now. The man shoved his rice around on his plate, almost like he didn't want to eat in that moment. Like suddenly he'd been overtaken by nerves. "I forgot my painkillers. But I couldn't leave." He got up, going to the kitchen and getting a glass of water for himself. 

It'd probably be a few minutes, Junior expected. James probably just wanted his space. 

"You know you're allowed to leave." Junior calls to the other room. "I don't care." 

"I do." James answers, coming back in and sitting back down on the couch. He didn't look back at Junior, just staring down at the plate of food, though he didn't touch it. "It doesn't matter." He picks the glass of water up and brings it to his lips, drinking. "I'll be ok." 

"You should take it easy tomorrow." 

"I'll be fine." James sounded angry, if only for just a moment. "If I stop it only gets worse." 

"...Right." Junior picks up a piece of chicken with his fork, dipping it into the rice and bringing it up to his mouth to eat. He chewed silently, not wanting to break through the silence that filled the room until he was sure James was going to eat. It takes a minute, but James uses his fork to pick up some rice, eating it and reaching into his pocket to find his phone, turning it on and going to check his messages as though there'd be something there that would make everything better. 

A flash of worry shot through Junior, but he pushed it back. He was the strong one. 

He always was. 

James' voice broke through the quiet. "I'm probably not going to be able to train people tomorrow." James says, staring at the phone. "There's a lot of stuff that has to be done on the business end." 

Junior nodded. "Have you thought of a solution yet?"

"Maybe." James blinks, turning off his phone. "I might have an idea-"

"What is it?"

"Hire a promoter." James looks up from his meal, blue eyes meeting Junior's grey. "See if they'll let you pay them on a royalty structure instead of a flat fee." 

Junior tilts his head, unsure of what he was supposed to make of that comment. What James even meant. "A promoter?"

"Yeah." James answers, setting his fork down. "Though we might have to change some things around the gym to do that." 

"What kinds of things?"

"More classes, for one." James says. "Probably will have to start hosting fights instead of just going to them." He looks back down at his plate of food, moving the rice around on the plate. "You have to really... sell the gym, I think." James winced. "I mean." Hesitates. "I mean... from an advertising standpoint. Make it somewhere people want to be." 

Junior nods, slowly, sucking on his cheek as he thought the idea over. "Will we have time to think about it?"

"Not much." James answers. "It's... I don't know if it's-"

"Neither do I." Junior puts his head into his hand and staring down at the floor. "I could talk to mom about it." 

"Don't." James says,  meeting Junior's eyes. "She doesn't need this on top of everything else." 

"Who else could we talk to about it though?" 

"I don't know." A sigh. "I don't know if there's anyone you can talk to about it." 

Junior pushed his black hair back away from his face, feeling it starting to fall out of its usual position. He was tired, but he needed to deal with these things. If there was someone that the two of them could talk to about what was happening, it would be a miracle. 

A lot of the time Junior simply doubted those could exist. 

"Are things going to be ok, Jim?" Junior looked up to see that James had gotten up with his half-finished plate of food. He hesitated, unsure of what he could say. He looked down at his plate, mostly finished, and got up, finishing the rest of his beer and using that as an excuse to go into the kitchen after James. 

The taller of the two leaned against the wall as James opened a drawer to remove a roll of plastic wrap. James' brow furrowed as he began to carefully smooth the plastic over the remnants of his meal, growing annoyed as the plastic began to cling to the metal of the fingers on his right hand. 

James stowed the food away in their fridge then turned to look at Junior with a sigh. "I'm going to bed."

"Oh." Junior says, a little dumbstruck. "Right. I'll uh, see you in the morning." 

James hummed thoughtfully, nodded once, and disappeared to his bedroom, closing the door behind him so that he could be in his solitude, if only for a night. 

Which left Junior to his own devices for the rest of the night. He knew that there were things that he should probably be sure to do. Set an alarm, shower, set clothes aside for the next day. But he couldn't pull himself away from the troubles of a day of work. 

He went back to his own bedroom, seating himself at a desk that was pressed against a wall and held his laptop, which was closed. Junior stared at the black plastic for a moment before giving himself over. 

He reached out, opened the laptop and logged in. He gives it a minute to boot up and then went straight to his web browser to search for help. 

Junior didn't know how long he spent searching for help. Around three in the morning, he went to bed, leaving a notepad full of names and numbers on his desk for him to get James to call the next day.

Almost as soon as Junior's head hit the pillow, he was asleep, drifting a million miles away to somewhere more safe than home.


	2. Contact Sports

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizing their situation, James and Junior begin to reach out.

Junior woke to the sounds of the blaring beeping of his alarm clock that bore into his ears and threatened to never release him from its grasp. He shifted in his bed, turning to face the clock and seeing the bright red digital numbers that told him it was almost six in the morning.

He was exhausted but he couldn't afford to take a day off these days. Junior groaned, turning his head and reaching to the alarm clock to hit the snooze button. Five more minutes. He could at least afford that.

Besides, it gave James more time to finish up with his morning routine before he needed the bathroom.

Junior closed his eyes and nuzzled into the plush pillow, wrapping his arms around it and pulling it closer to his chest. It felt like he was floating in a cloud.

Five minutes passed, and the alarm clock went off again.

That was it.

Time to get up.

When Junior exited his bedroom, rubbing at his eyes, he didn't expect to come into the living room to find James sitting on the couch, engaged in conversation with a woman that Junior quickly recognized as his own mother.

He immediately wondered what he’d done wrong.

James looked up at him, but didn't say anything. It was a silent cue for Junior to go at least look like he was getting ready for the day. Which namely meant putting on a shirt at the very least.

He took the hint and stepped back into his bedroom, opening a drawer in the dresser that he kept directly beside the door and pulling out an old black t-shirt and put it on before coming back into the living room.

"Morning." Junior managed the words out, grabbing his mother's attention.

The woman turned, smiled at him with a light in her green eyes that had always been inextinguishable.

"Hei." She smiled up at him, standing up and stepping towards him with her arms outstretched for a hug.

Junior returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close to him for just a moment. "Morning."

She pulled back away, looking up at Junior for a moment and she reached up, smoothing Junior's hair down and trying to get his bedhead in order. "Go get ready." She smiles at him. "Big day ahead.”  
Junior held back a groan from escaping him at his mother's request, despite the fact that it was a request he’d heard a thousand times before.

Lin Xiong was a relatively tall woman, who always wore her greying hair back in a slick ponytail. For as long as he could remember, Junior couldn't think of more than five times that he'd seen her without it.

When Junior had moved out, he'd expected that he'd see less of his mother, but she liked to make a point to come visit him and James at least once a week. They were her boys, she always said. The visits had only increased a few years back when things started falling apart. When James was injured. When his father had passed away and left the gym to him.

It hurt to see her so often when he knew the causes for her visits.

"What are you doing here?" Junior asked, looking down at his mother. "It's early."

"I'm not allowed to check in on my boys?" Lin looked up at him, with a glint of something in her eye that Junior wasn't able to identify. "I wanted to be sure you two were doing alright." She looked back over her shoulder to look at James. "You should be getting ready too. Just because you aren't mine by blood doesn't mean you're excluded."

The tips of James' ears were prickled with pink, but he stood up, submitting. "Right." He looked at Junior. "Bathroom's yours."

"Thanks."

Junior took advantage to go and get himself ready. Shower, get dressed, brush his teeth, and make sure that he didn't look like a complete mess that morning. Once in awhile, he would hear his mother moving around in the apartment but didn't question it too much. Once he was showered, he was sure he would wake up some.

Maybe.

If he was lucky.

When he got out of the shower and was dressed, he came into the living room to find that James was there, dressed, and looking like he was about to go to the office instead of going to a boxing gym for the day. If James were in lighter clothes, Junior would have known that it meant that James intended on using the ring, or helping to train other fighters. But in his sweater and slacks, it meant that James was going to be sticking himself behind a desk all day.

They still had to talk about the financial situation, didn't they?

Junior passed James and went into the kitchen so that he could get himself a bagel. Inside, he could see James' still-covered food from the night before and looked over at James. "Do you want me to pack a lunch for you?"

"Uh, sure." James called back. "I'm not really feeling hungry, though."

"Alright." Junior answers, reaching in and taking the plate and beginning to pack its contents into a plastic container so that James could actually carry it to work with him and filled the rest of the container with more of the food they'd been left the night before before packing the remaining food all into one container for his own lunch.

Lastly, Junior grabbed a bagel and put it into their shared toaster before going into the living room to look at James. "Where's mom?"

"Had work." James mumbled, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. "Think you're going to be able to focus today?"

"Yeah." Junior replied. "Are you going to-"

"I'll be on the desk all day." James cut Junior off. "I'll be fine."

"You better remember to eat."

"I will." James' voice hardened at this, and Junior wondering silently whether James had taken his medication yet so that he could get through most of the day without shutting down at some point. James wasn't made of stone, steel maybe, but definitely not infallible. "I'm ready to go when you are."

Junior nodded, going to his room and preparing a duffel bag so that he would have dry clothes later on in the day. It was going to be a long one, he predicted. Not that he minded. He takes his time getting ready, knowing that the first person that he'd have to deal with upon getting to work was just going to be Raven, who usually showed up late every morning anyways for circumstances that were never within her control. Nobody minded since she was always the most on top of her job at the gym once everyone settled in during the day.

On the way out the door, Junior pauses, eyes falling on the post it note that he'd left on the desk from his searching the night before. He hesitated, but pocketed it, deciding that maybe it would be useful somewhere down the line. Maybe he could pass it off to James.

He comes back into the kitchen to see that James had already packed their meals into a bag that would be going straight into the tiny fridge in their office once they got to the gym. He looked at James, who was in the process of swallowing two tabs of medication and sipping from a glass of water to wash them down.

"You good?"

"Yeah." James’ voice was hoarse. "I am."

Junior grabbed his jacket, checking the pocket for the keys to the car before stepping out of the apartment and heading down the hallway to get to stairs. He knew that James would take the chance to go down the stairs that morning, as James always did.

The two went out to the car, with James climbing in on the passenger's side and making himself comfortable with the bag of ledgers and lunch while Junior tossed his bag into the backseat of the car. Junior quickly oriented himself, faced forward and pulled out of their parking spot before beginning the several block drive to the gym, the radio blaring some new pop hit that he was sure he'd be sick of by the end of the week.

They reached the gym, and the two of them both went in at their own paces. Junior came in first, checking that the front was in order whilst James made his way to the back to set himself up for a day of desk work. James left the door open for now, stopping it from falling closed with a small statue of a boxer that Junior kept in the office for show.

Junior grabbed a broom, doing a final sweep of the floor before grabbing a flag that was next to the door and stepping outside to hang it, signaling that the gym was open for the day. He stopped at the trophy case next to the door and looked in for a moment, sad and proud. With a sigh, he spoke. "Here's to another day, Dad."

With that, Junior went in, heading towards the back where James was already turning on the computer and running through its boot time processes. The first of the ledgers was open in front of him, with a pen resting between the pages. He watched as James slowly set everything up, stood up, and went to the small fridge to store their lunches for the day.

James turned, and looked at Junior with bored looking blue eyes. "Need something?"

"Uh..." Junior thought for a moment. "I wanted to see if you could look into promoters. I looked into some guys last night but didn't come up with much." He reached into his pocket, finding the slip of paper with names on it that he'd written out the night before, although it was somewhat crinkled and ruined now. He was sure that James wouldn't mind it too much.

James reached out, took the note and smoothed it out between his gloved fingers, reading over the list of names there. "I'll do some research of my own and get back to you on this." He set the slip of paper down on top of the ledger, picked up the pen and set it down on top of the note in an attempt to weigh it down. "Thank you."

"Uh... Jim?"

"Yes?" James was seating himself at the desk again, shifting about in the chair to make himself as comfortable as possible.

Junior hesitated, unsure whether he was supposed to breach the question or not. Whether breaching whatever it was that James had wanted to talk to him about the night before was a wise choice or not. He inhaled, blinked, and then looked James in the eye. "You mentioned there was was something that we should talk about." Hesitated. "Last night."

James looked between Junior and the ledger, then back at Junior. "There was something." He answered. "You know that there are some people that..."

Silently, Junior watched as James flipped the pages on the ledger, trying to get ahead to some more recent pages. Junior wondered whether it was a big deal at all, or whether it was some note that had slipped through that James had been worried about. He didn't know what was coming his way, and that was kind of scary. "Jim?"

James stopped on a page, smoothing the book open and letting his eyes flick over the numbers that were scrawled down on the page. "There were some people that were a bit... behind in their payments is all." Blue eyes shot up to Junior's. "I wanted to talk to you about seeing to it that those accounts were brought up to date."

There was a silence, and for a moment, Junior wondered who he'd forgotten to bill. He'd been remembering to make sure that everyone was charged monthly to use the gym, right? Or had something slipped through the cracks? "Yeah." Junior muttered. "If you can, see about that?"

James nodded, taking a note down and seating himself at the desk, adjusting the height on his seat so that he could be more comfortable and rolled in closer to his workspace. Junior wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, whether he was supposed to leave James alone at this point or not. He inhaled, and was left absolutely relieved when he heard the sound of the front door open.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Alright." James answered, sinking into his haze of work and focus.

Inside of the main area of the gym, Junior could hear the sound of someone's bag getting tossed down onto the ground, the sound of a punching bag being chained up for early morning use, then the sound of a voice.

"Junior?" A woman's voice called. "You here?"

"In the office." Junior called back, stepping into the main area of the gym to see Raven Branwen, slipping out of a skirt to reveal a pair of tight fitting shorts, quickly before slipping off the blouse that she'd surely worn on the bus that morning.

Raven blinked, smirked at Junior and pulled her long black hair into a messy ponytail that hung down her back and made her look she was ready for a fight. She dropped her arms, strong and tightly muscled, stretching as she looked at Junior. He was sure that she could have snapped him in half in that moment. "Bus was late again." She said, as though she were trying to excuse her lateness that morning. "Taiyang said he'd be in later today. Wanted to work on his speed."

"Good." Junior replied, joining Raven in the gym and lifting one of the heavier punching bags so that he could set it up for whoever came in next. “You know there’s going to be a golden gloves tournament soon, right?”

Raven cocks her head, meeting Junior’s eyes. He saw something in her crimson that he was sure meant something, but he wasn’t able to identify it. Did she already know about it?”

“Yeah.” Raven tossed her head with the word as she walked to the side of the boxing ring, opening up a bag that was attached to the side to get a roll of white tape that she began to quickly wrap around her knuckles and fingers. “A little bird told me.” There was the sound of the tape ripping, and Raven making sure that it stuck down in place. “Why?”

Junior sighed, pushed his hair back out of his face. “I was looking around last night trying to… doesn’t matter. I didn’t know there was a match coming up, but if we can, I’d like to put together a Team Xiong for it.”

Raven laughed. “With who? Me, Taiyang, and Peter? Or with you?”

Junior shrugged. “I don’t know.” He says, watching as Raven taped her left hand now, using her teeth to tear off the tape before tapping it all down into place. “I just wanted to see if you would be interested.”

“How about this, Junior. I’ll let you know.”

“Alright.” Junior nods pensively, deciding that it was best to just give Raven her space. If she wasn't going to come along for a fight, she would let him know. That was just Raven. It wasn't possible to control what she did, and Junior didn't even begin to pretend that he would be able to get Raven to do what he would like her to in any real way.

Her showing up on time was enough of a surprise.

Behind them, Junior heard the sound of the door of the office being slammed shut, and he silently wondered what was going on inside. He figured it was probably a sign that James was making a phone call or two that couldn’t be interrupted.

His heart clenched in hope that it would be their saving grace.

However, floating at the back of Junior’s mind was the strong possibility that James just wanted some quiet so that he’d be able to concentrate. That was less favorable to think about.

He did his best, hoisting the bag that he was carrying and putting it up on its hooks before turning to face Raven. “You warm up at all yet?”

“Couldn’t.” Raven replied, stretching her arms for a moment before dropping into a fighting stance and jabbing at the bag for the first time, then a second. This was her warm-up. “Got caught up on having to look professional because I have to go to the bank later today.”

That was about as close to a real answer as Junior could have hoped to get, and he knew that fully well. He leaned back against the side of the ring, watching as Raven jerked, throwing her first punch at the bag and then immediately sidestepping away from it.

Junior wasn’t sure whether there were going to be a lot of classes that morning. He figured he’d have to go into the office and check in. He didn’t mind risking bothering James in this case, and besides, it meant that he might have a chance at finding out what was going on with the promoter situation that James was supposed to be handling.

“I’ll leave you to it.”

“Thanks Junior.” Raven’s brow furrowed as she threw another punch, making the chains and the stand that the bag hanged from rattle.

With that, Junior turned and headed towards the office. He knocked on the door gently, mostly as a formality and stepped inside to see James, leaned back in the swivel chair that was kept so cleanly behind the desk with the phone in his hand, pressed to his ear.

James looked up at him, and for a moment, Junior wondered if he was causing a distraction.

He waited, watching as James listened for something, only to put his face in his hand at one point. Junior could make out the faint beeping sound of the call going through to a machine.

James sighed. “Hello, Mister-” Junior watched as James held up the note that he’d left behind. “Cassidy. I’m calling on behalf of Xiong’s Fitness about an opportunity-” James swiveled his chair away from Junior and began rattling off details and the gym’s phone number along with their hours.

Junior went to the whiteboard on the wall to check for classes and who would be coming in later on that day. He heard the quiet click of James hanging up, and the squeak of his friend’s chair as James turned to face him. “Need something?”

“Just the times.” Junior jabbed a thumb at the whiteboard. “How are the calls coming?”

“Nobody’s answered yet.” James mumbled, setting the phone down in its charging dock and sighing, some frustration clear on his voice. “I’ve got one more on your list to call, then hopefully, it’s just a waiting game.”

“Are we taking whoever calls first?”

“I don’t know.” A gloved hand reached up to brush James’ messy black hair out of his face. “It depends on what we can arrange. I imagine a lot of these promoters won’t want to touch this place with a ten foot pole though.”

That comment left Junior taken aback. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but it did. “Is it that bad?” He frowned. “I mean, it’s not like the gym is new or anything-”

James sucked in on his cheek, and for a moment Junior realized that the other man was restraining himself from saying something. “It’s a matter of money, Junior. That’s all.”

“Call the last guy?”

James nodded, picked up the phone and dialed the number once, then started over and dialed it again once he realized that his thumb had slipped off of the five key and onto a six at some point in the sequence.

He put the phone on speaker, and Junior leaned in to listen as the phone rang.

Once.

No answer.

Twice.

No answer.

Three times.

No answer.

Four times.

James rolled his eyes and straightened himself up, sitting upright in his seat and Junior knew that in that moment James had composed a script for this call. On the other end of the line, Junior could hear the voice of a man, clearly a bit younger, that sounded as though he always had a cocky laugh ready to come out at any time.

Voicemail.

“Hello, you have reached the office of Torchwick Promotions. If you’re getting this message, I’m out of the office for now. Leave your name and number and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible about our new business venture.”

The line beeped. James spoke.

“Hello, this is James Ironwood, calling on behalf of Xiong’s Fitness and Training. We have a business opportunity that we believe you may be interested in. We’re able to be contacted between seven am and seven pm, every day of the week at 555-6879. I hope to hear from you soon.”

And that was it. James hung up, set the phone down in its receiver and then looked up at Junior. “Now we wait.”

Junior nodded, a little unsure, and looked at the clock to check the time. It was nearly eight, so he figured that if any of the promoters that James had called ran anything like normal business hours, they’d be hearing from them sooner than later. “You think this will pan out?”

James shrugged. “I think if I have to get creative to make this happen, I’m willing to do so.” He blinked, and Junior watched as James turned in the chair, stood, and went to the filing cabinet so that he could begin getting in contact with the people that were behind on their payments.

“Let me know when one of them calls back?”

“Can do.” James says, grabbing a fresh pad of paper and a pencil so that he could continue on with the desk work for the day. “Go take care of the front.”

“I’d be glad to.” Junior hesitated as he was about to step outside of the room. Looked back over his shoulder at James, who was slipping on a pair of reading glasses that were usually kept tucked away inside of the desk. “Door open or closed?”

“Closed, thank you.” James said, already beginning to bury himself in his paperwork.

Junior nodded, closed the door behind him, and went towards the ring where one or two of their clients had arrived, looking for a morning spar. The least that he could do was oversee it and hope that he’d be able to distract himself away from that day’s goings on.

He lost track of time. Got so wound up correcting people’s form and helping to make sure nobody got hurt that he didn’t even realize that it was almost noon when the door at the back of the gym opened, and James stepped out, one hand over the receiver and expression serious.

“Hei.” A pause. “Torchwick is on the line.”


	3. Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter stage right: Roman Torchwick, covered in foam.

There were a lot of things in this world that Roman Torchwick couldn't stand. Among those things, were long nights at work, having to wake up after exceptionally long nights at work, and worst of all- he couldn't stand alarm clocks.

So this morning, when he finally stumbled through the door to rest after a long night of helping to clean up a nightclub after a foam party that he'd been so gracious to promote for them, and was greeted by the blaring sound of an alarm clock that rang in his ears, Roman wasn't exactly happy.

He was barely through the door when the dance song that he left on his alarm clock to wake him up every morning began to play, and he only found himself quickly growing tired of it since he'd probably heard the same song twelve times over the course of the night.

A job hazard, he supposed.

Roman kicked his shoes off at the door and crossed the postage stamp of an apartment that he called his, stripping out of his dirty clothes along the way since he just really wanted to get into something dry.

He got to his bedroom, and stared inside to see the alarm clock sitting on the tiny table next to his bed, proudly displaying the fact that it was eight am, as though it were completely unaware of the fact that Roman hadn't been able to sleep since the night before.

Alarm clocks were invented by assholes, Roman decided then and there.

He reached out, hit the button on his alarm clock so that it would stop the music just before the bass could drop and sighed, looking at his reflection in the mirror that was on the other side of the room with a sigh.

The night before, he'd been ready to take on the universe. His hair had been perfect, he'd put on his best waterproof makeup, and he'd looked damn good. However, this morning the face that stared back at him wasn't the same one that he’d left home with the night before.

His makeup had ran, he could see the dark circles forming under his eyes, and his hair hanged limply,  
waiting to be redone. He looked at the alarm clock, reading the number on it, and frowned.

If he wanted to go to the office that morning and feel like he belonged in an office, he'd have to show up a bit late. Which didn't exactly make him feel great about himself. He worked for an agency, despite what the branding on his business said.

He couldn't usually afford to be late.

Roman blinked, reached for his pocket only to realize belatedly that his pants had been stripped off at some point over the course of that morning. He stood up, stumbled into the living room and picked up the tight pants that he'd worn the night before, searching until he found his wallet and phone in the back pockets.

He turned on his phone, only to see that his battery was probably going to die at any moment. That wasn't a surprise, not really. He opened up his contacts, finding the number for one of his coworkers. He pressed his thumb to it, and sent her a message that said in no small terms that he was running late and that he needed someone to cover for him in the time being.

With the message sent, Roman went to shower and hopefully strip the evils of the night before off of his skin and leave him feeling a little more refreshed, with any luck.

He padded into the washroom, blinked wearily as he went to the small counter where he'd prepared himself the night before and ripped open a small package of makeup removing wipes and began to remove all of the color that he'd put on the night before.

Roman tossed away the now black and tan stained cloth, and stripped out of the rest of his clothing before he stepped into the shower, turned on the hot water and slumped against the wall, letting the water relax him and flatten down his hair.

He was half-surprised when he heard the sound of his own groan as the tension from the night before slid away. There was a significant part of Roman that wanted to just stay there in the shower forever, or go to bed as soon as he stepped out.

But that was a luxury that he couldn't allow himself. Not when he had to go to the office, and would probably have picky clients to deal with. He didn't mind his job, it was a thousand times better than what he used to do. But people were protective of their businesses.

However, the way people protected their workplaces was nothing like the way he'd seen people get protective over their weddings.

Yeah, promoting businesses was much better than wedding planning.

Roman did concede to his desires a little, however. He stayed under the hot water a few minutes longer than he should have, let his conditioner sit the full five minutes instead of just the two that he normally allowed himself.

When it was finally time to step out of the shower, Roman sighed, turning off the water and reaching out of the shower to find a clean towel, which he immediately pulled in with him so that he could dry himself off some before stepping out onto the plush mat that was just outside.

He began to dry off, taking his time to focus on his hair first, since he'd like for that to be workable before anything else was dried. Besides, it meant that his bathroom floor stayed drier and since Roman had spent the entire night in a club where everything was wet by the end, he greatly preferred keeping his apartment dry.

Finally dried off, Roman went to his bedroom and opened up the closet to find a good outfit to wear for the day, and settled on a pair of good slacks, white button-down, and a brown vest. 

Every piece was well-fitted, and that was largely a result of Roman's own handiwork. He liked looking impeccable, and he wasn't going to let a serious lack of sleep stop that. Roman carefully folded up the sleeves on his shirt, just until they were right below his elbows, where he snapped them in place.

He had a long day of work ahead of him. He just really hoped that it'd be an easier one than usual.

When Roman looked up, he smoothed his vest down, smiling for a moment at his reflection before reaching for a headband so that he could keep his still-drying hair out of his face while he at least put on a layer of foundation and some concealer so that he didn't look like he was running on 5 hours of sleep for the last thirty six hours that he'd been awake.

Quickly, Roman smoothed some moisturizer over his face and stepped out of the bathroom, giving the cream a chance to dry before he put anything on. He stepped back into his bedroom and picked up his phone, checking to see that his coworker was indeed covering for him until he could get into the office. It was probably going to be another forty five minutes or so, but Roman needed to treat himself this morning. Besides, he was doing well enough financially that he could afford being docked an hour's pay for being late.

He'd earned it, dammit.

For a moment, Roman considered making something for breakfast but decided against it. Despite how he felt that morning, it still was in his best interests to be at work sooner than later that morning. Roman gave the moisturizer ten minutes to dry, and then he was back in the bathroom, uncapping a bottle of foundation and squirting a drop of the makeup onto the back of his hand.

He picked up a small egg shaped sponge, wet it, and began spreading the makeup over his face, careful to focus on the area under his eyes so that he didn't look as exhausted as he was. He went through his routine, finishing it off with a light layer of eyeliner to bring out his eyes. Roman tore off his headband, and grabbed a soft brush, beginning to brush his hair into it's usual style.

Roman stopped, giving himself a quick once-over and washing the makeup off of the back of his hand before he was stepping out into the bedroom, slipping into a pair of black socks, and grabbing a hat as he slipped into his shoes and stepped out the door, locking it behind him before jogging down to the parking lot, where Roman's car, a bright orange convertible was sitting.

He unlocked it, climbed in, and pulled out of the parking lot, speeding in the direction of the office downtown. He turned on the radio, letting it play whatever the latest rock song was as he made his way down the way, with the top of his car down. He set his hat down in the seat beside him, placing his phone inside of it so that it wouldn't get blown away.

He liked the feeling of the wind in his hair. He liked the smell of the morning breeze.

He was glad that he wasn't completely surrounded by the scent of foam anymore. The wind made him look forward to sitting down at his desk even less than he did normally.

It's not a long ride, the radio station just turning to commercial when Roman was pulling into his spot to park, putting the top of his car back up and locking it up tight. He opened up one of the side doors of the car, reached in to grab a leather case that contained his laptop and his paperwork, and put his hat on top of his head before going to the front door, pushing it open to see that someone was already inside.

It wasn't a big office, with only three or four people that normally used it, but usually the desks were kept on a rotation. At one of the two desks inside, sat a young woman. Her dark red hair was cut into a cute bob, this morning kept out of her face with a headband that looked like it had a white rose glued to the side of it, and a wide smile on her face as she hung up her phone.

The woman looked at him, a glint in her silvery grey eyes that made her look a thousand times more mischievous than she should have been.

"Morning Summer." Roman said, setting his bag down at the second the two desks and pulling his seat away from the desk so that he could sit down. He looked at the desk, to see that Summer had brought him coffee that morning, which was sitting on a napkin on his desk. "Sorry I'm late."

Summer leaned into her seat, resting her head on a fist and just looking at Roman for a moment. She blinked twice. "I managed to cover for you." She announced, watching him. "Claimed it was a traffic thing. Charlie was willing to believe that."

"You're wonderful." Roman said as he finally sank down into his seat, reaching out for the cup of coffee that was on his desk, only to find that it had gone cold. He stood up, crossing their office for the lone microwave that sat on top of the mini fridge that kept his and Summer's lunches during the day. He put the coffee inside and set it to cook for half a minute, just long enough to warm it up. "Let me tell you, Summer, I have had a night." Roman leaned against the wall, letting his eyes flick shut for a moment and resisting the need for sleep.

Summer turned back to her desk, picking up a file and flipping it open with a gentle smile across her face. "What happened? Was the foam party too foamy for you?"

"Not at all." Roman replied, opening up the microwave just before it could beep and bringing his coffee up to his mouth, sipping it idly. Pumpkin spice. He figured that meant that was also what Summer had gotten that morning. "The cleanup was a horror show, though."

“Have you slept?” Summer asks, picking up her own coffee and sipping from it with a quiet contented hum. "Because you sound like you haven't."

"Not a wink." Roman sighed, set down his coffee and kneeled next to the fridge, opening it up so that he could see what Summer had brought to the office that week for creamers and flavoring for her coffee.

Unlike usual, Roman didn't see any new creamers, instead only finding a can of whipped cream stored neatly alongside Summer's lunch. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at her from behind the fridge. "Really, sunshine?"

"I wanted to try something new, pumpkin." Summer smiled, flipping a page over in the file in front of her. "You can use it."

Roman shrugged, taking the can of whipped cream and standing back up. He closed the fridge door and set down the can in one motion. Carefully, he got the lid off of his coffee and uncapped the whipped cream, spraying a small amount on top of his coffee.

"Thanks." Roman sighed the word out, capping the can again and stowing it back away before bringing his coffee back over to his desk, setting it down on a neatly folded light green napkin and finally he sat down at his desk, removing his laptop from his bag and setting it on the desk in front of him. "Anyone call for me this morning?"

"Yeah." Summer didn't look over at him, but Roman could still hear the smile in her voice. Always smiling. "It sounded like he was confused about what you do when it went through to the machine though."

That was interesting. Roman looked over at the phone that sat on his desk, seeing that it displayed that there was one message waiting for him. "What do you mean by... confused?"

He swiveled his chair around so that he could look at Summer directly. She turned and faced him, blinking her wide eyes for a moment and crossing one leg over the other, smoothing her skirt down with the motion. "Well, he was calling for a gym or something. Which tells me he probably doesn't know what you do. I let it ring through, he left a name and number."

Roman nodded, and looked at the phone. If someone had called him, it meant that they were probably looking for help for a reason. However, Summer was right- if this person had called for a gym, they were probably also horribly confused.

Either that or there was a horrendous lack of research that had been done.

He had a feeling that it was the latter.

Roman picked up his coffee, sipping it and watching the red light on the phone blink. It reminded him of the lights at the nightclub the night before. He pushed that thought far away from where he was.

He swallowed the coffee, set it down next to the tissue, and used the tissue to check that there wasn't any whipped cream on his face. Roman reached over, and he tapped the button the answering machine.

A robotic voice came through, announcing that he had one new message, as though he didn't already know that based on the fact that there had been a blinking new message light on his phone, or like it didn't know that Summer had already told him everything.

Roman picked up a pen as the message began to play, and listened carefully to the message twice, scribbling down the name of the man on the message, his business, and number. He didn't know what this was about, but he figured that it didn't hurt to take that information down just in case he knew some way that he could better address this man's needs.

Summer watched him. "Are you going to call?"

"Yeah." Roman said. "I might be able to point them in the right direction. Or..."

"Or?"

Roman's brow furrowed. "I dunno, depending on what it is I might do it. Doing the club promotion thing gets boring, you know? It's always the same stuff. Ladies night on Thursday, once a month specials, 'help us with our Happy Hour.'" Roman shook his head, bringing a hand up to push his bangs back out of his green eyes. "If it's a challenge I might take it just to try."

Summer sighed, looking down at the invoice that she had on her desk. "I get that." She rubbed at her eyes for a moment, then looked back at Roman. "If that's how you feel, maybe you should just take the job."

"Regardless?" Roman looked up. "You know that's risky."

"You like challenges, don't you?"

"Yeah." Roman said, picking up the phone and looking down at the receiver, then to the pad of paper that presented him with everything that he needed to know.

Carefully, Roman dialed in the number, brought the phone to his ear, and listened as the phone rang. It was during this gym's business hours, so it shouldn't be too long.

It wasn't even one ring before someone picked up.

"Xiong's Fitness, this is James speaking." The voice on the other end of the line said.

"Hello." Roman greeted him. "This is Roman Torchwick, you called into my office about an opportunity?"

He heard the sound of shuffling on the other side of the phone, like the man had gotten up. He could make out the quiet sound of a door squeaking, then the sound of the receiver being covered with someone's hand.

The man on the other end of the line- James, Roman reminded himself yelled to someone. It sounded like "Hey, Torchwick is on the line." but Roman wasn't too sure.

More shuffling. The door creaking again.

James' voice came through, clear and unmuffled this time. "I'm going to put you on speaker so that the owner can also join this discussion, is that alright Mr. Torchwick?"

Interesting.

"Go for it." Roman said, opening up a clean notepad and preparing to scribble down whatever came up that was interesting, or seemed important.

On the other end of the line, Roman heard the sound of the phone being moved around, the sound of a finger clumsily hitting a button, then the sound of a second man’s voice on the other end of the line.

It sounded to Roman like the two men were trying to decide who was going to be taking the lead. He waited patiently, turned in his seat to see that Summer was also on the phone, talking to a client while bringing up a menu for something on her laptop. 

He pulled his mind away from whatever the two of them would inevitably order for lunch.

“Hello, Mr. Torchwick.” The new voice broke through the haze of Roman’s mind. "Thank you for calling us back."

"Oh, it's no problem." Roman manages to say, twirling his pen between his fingers and staring down at the unmarked sheet of paper that was presented to him. At the top, Roman scribbled down a few things. The date, the time, the name of the establishment that had called in. "So, Mr... Xiong is it?" He waits for an answer, for any sign of the affirmative. "What can I help you with today?"

On the other end, he hears the man he was speaking to mumble something to James, who must have just been an employee of some sort. Finally, he heard the man's voice. "I own a gym, Xiong's Fitness." The man began to explain. "But since my father passed away things have been... hard. And we're having trouble getting the money together so that we can keep running."

Oh. Roman thought to himself. That was interesting. These men had certainly failed to do the right amount of research if they were calling in looking for him to help keep their business afloat. It wasn't in his typical line of work.

But he liked a challenge, Summer had been right.

Roman spoke now, commandeering the conversation. "Well, Mister Xiong, I hate to have to break it to you, but I'm not exactly in the line of work that you might think I am."

"Your site said you were a promoter-"

"I am." Roman said, smirking into the phone and able to tell that his voice had become touched with that cockiness. "However, I typically help plan social events. Special nights at clubs, that sort of thing. Helping a gym is very much out of my experience."

On the other end of the line, Roman could vaguely make out the sound of one of the two men growling at the other, probably in an attempt to show displeasure. So they thought that he was going to be backing out. That was very interesting indeed.

This time, James spoke up. "Mister Torchwick, I'm sorry to say this, but we hate to waste your time-"

"Hold up.'" Roman interjected. "I've spoken to a coworker and I think I might be up for a challenge. But if I am going to help you, I'm going to need to know exactly what it is you want me to do for you two."

On the other end of the line, he heard their voices again. "-might as well try."

"-don't even know-"

"-he's our best-"

"Mister Torchwick." Mister Xiong's voice again. "If you'd be happy to help us, we'd be glad to take your help. Neither of us know much about... selling a business I guess. Making people want to come in. I've been trying to run the gym the way my father did, but that's not so easy. And I don't know how to fix things."

"Well, " Roman clicked his pen twice. "It would help if I knew exactly what your establishment does, wouldn't it?"

"Oh." There was a pause. "Of course."

"Well?"

"It's a gym." The man began. "But we specifically work on training people in things like boxing, kickboxing, that sort of thing. We teach sometimes, and we help people get better so that they can represent us in competition."

Roman blinked twice. Maybe this could be more interesting than he thought. "I'll have to do some research."

"Of course." Then Xiong spoke again. "As for the payment-"

Roman looked down at the notepad in front of him and scratched down a note for later that said little more than just 'boxing promoting?' It wasn't much, but it was going to be the gateway for him figuring out what he was supposed to do to help these two men.

He decided this was a good point to take the lead back in this conversation. "If I agree to help the two of you, and your business is in as much trouble as you say- do you have a good accountant?"

James' voice now. "I'd like to think so."

"Right. If you two are in as much trouble as you say, while I'd like to ask for my money upfront, I'm more willing to set up a royalty payment structure. I get paid well enough on my other jobs that I think that I can handle taking on you two."

"So the exact payment-"

Roman scribbled some numbers down, all in increments of five, starting at 5 and stopping at 50. "I will want a cut from any money made at whatever I help to promote for all of you. Since I expect this will be a full time job, I'm going to ask for twenty percent."

"Is that number negotiable?" James spoke.

"It will be." Roman answers. "Though if I'm going to take any job on, I want to know what I'm getting into before I do it. Would there be a good time for me to come by your gym and see what I'm going to be working with?" 

Mister Xiong took the lead on the other end of the line. "Uh, I think we could take you at almost any time and it'd work out." He heard James confirm this in the background. "When would be the most convenient for you?"

Roman turned in his desk, opened up his calendar, and checked what the next few nights looked like for him. It was coming up on the beginning of the week, but he was sure he had something to do the next night or two, and he really wanted that night so he could get some sleep.

"How does three days from now sound?" Roman asked, tapping on the tuesday on his calendar. "I can come in during the afternoon, you two show me around, and we talk business."

“That sounds perfect.” Xiong sounded like he was smiling into the phone, and for just a moment, Roman wondered what the two men would look like, how badly he would be dwarfed by them. He was relatively tall, but he was thin. Not athletically built.

“Excellent.” Roman scribbled down ‘Tuesday at Seven’ on the notepad and then opened up a map site on his computer. “And how do I get to your fine establishment?”

“We’re at 61 South Street, in Vale.” Xiong said. “I suppose we’ll see you on Tuesday.”

“Yeah.” Roman laughed. “You will, Mister Xiong. Should I come prepared for a workout?”

“I don’t think you’ll need to-”

“Sounds good. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Thank you, Mister Torchwick.” With that, Roman hung up, swiveled in his seat and faced Summer, who looked at him with a raised brow.

“I think I’m taking them on.” Roman smirked across the room at him. “So about lunch?”

“I’m ordering Chinese.”

“Perfect.” Roman sipped his coffee and smirked into the cup. He ripped off the sheet of paper with all of the details about Xiong’s and began to transcribe all of it into his computer.

Set some alarms and timers, and then, Roman could relax a little, turning to paperwork and making his report how the night before went.

The fact that he had a meeting on Tuesday slipped from his mind pretty quickly.


	4. The Grand Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman, meet Junior

The next two days passed in a flash. For Junior, that meant a lot of sticking to his normal schedule and doing his best not to get too caught up in the fact that they were still horribly in debt. The fact that there was going to be someone coming to the gym specifically to help them get things back in order was constantly in the back of his mind.

He and James might have gotten what they wanted for the gym.

Emphasis on might.

Assuming that this Torchwick guy was willing to take them on when he finally saw the gym.

The morning that Torchwick was supposed to be coming, Junior woke James up early and the two of them went up to the gym before the sun could even rise. It was a rare occurrence that Junior went to the gym in a suit, but this morning he did. James didn't dress up as much as he did, instead opting for a business casual look of good slacks and another one of his nice sweaters. In other words, typical James.

If Junior thought that he could pull off that look, he would have tried it in a heartbeat.

And so most of that morning was spent with the two cleaning, while James rambled off plans and numbers and possibilities for what the gym could be should the Roman Torchwick situation pan out as well as they hoped. Junior didn't know whether James believed any of it. In the back of his mind, Junior got the very strong feeling that James just didn't want to think about a failure.

By six, the gym was presentable.

By nine, it was spotless.

By ten, the two of them were in the office making a rapid attempt to clean the room up and bringing in an extra steel chair that they set back behind the desk where James would normally sit. Junior set the chair, while James was putting file upon file into the cabinet that was there, and organizing pens on the desk and moving them into an old coffee mug that was on it.

Meticulous. Clean. Precise.

Once the office was cleaned up, Junior just didn't know what to do. He seated himself on one of the two chairs that had already been in there, while James seated himself behind the desk- Junior's desk, Junior had to remind himself, and turned on the computer. Junior didn't know what he was doing, but he listened in as James began to answer emails and generally distract himself.

Which left Junior alone with his thoughts.

There were a lot of variables for things that could happen. What he expected the most out of this meeting was for Roman Torchwick to step into the gym, take one look at it, proclaim its inadequacy, turn heel, and leave exactly the same way that he'd come in. If that was the case, if that was what happened, Junior didn't know what he was supposed to do.

If he lost the gym, he lost everything.

He'd fail his father.

That was not an option.

The front door of the gym opened, the first sign of business all day. Junior felt something jump in his chest and he stood up, going into the other room, only to see that it was Raven showing up late as usual, though this time she came with Taiyang Xiao Long, one of the more talented boxers that regularly patronized the gym, in tow.

Taiyang saw him first, grinned widely, and raised a hand in greeting. The first thing that Junior noticed beyond that sunshine smile was the fact that Taiyang had shown up with a dark purple bruise, just below his left eye. Junior wondered silently where it had come from, but shook the thought away. It was probably just a bad blow from practice. Either that or Taiyang had walked into a door again. Both were strong possibilities.

Junior entered the large training room, closed the door to the office behind him as James liked, and walked towards the two boxers.

Taiyang let out a low whistle, looking Junior up and down for a moment. "Hot date?" Taiyang chuckled. "What's going on?"

Junior raised a hand, waving away the concern. "I have a meeting later." He said, plainly. "Try not to make too much of a mess of the place. We... we need to put on a good impression."

Raven raised an eyebrow as a response, then looked to Taiyang, then back to Junior. "We'll try to be good, alright teddy bear?"

Junior sighed. "Thank you Raven."

He supervised silently as the two stripped off their street wear and got into the clothing that they used to train in. The two were good about it, setting their clothes and belongings aside on a couple chairs near the ring before jumping up into it for themselves, strapping themselves into their gloves- an endeavor which Junior had no choice but the help in, and beginning to circle each other in the ring.

As the two sparred, jabbing, weaving, thrusting, and blocking, Junior was helpless to do anything but watch. The gym was all but spotless. As was the office. He shouldn't have had anything to worry about for this meeting, and yet he felt even more nervous about it than he had before. Were he a younger man, or a man that didn't have a meeting coming up later that day, he would have stepped into the ring himself or put himself against a bag to get his frustrations out.

But that wasn't an option today. Not with Roman Torchwick arriving sometime that evening. He really didn't want to have to gamble on showering before a meeting, anyways.

He really wished that he'd remembered to ask for what time the man would be arriving that night when he'd spoken to Torchwick on the phone only a few days before.

It was a little after two when the gym door finally opened, and for the first time in a long time, someone new stepped through the doors to Xiong's Fitness.

The new arrival didn't look like someone that would be looking to learn to fight, was the first thing that Junior thought. He was too thin, his hair too perfect, his shoes were leather and he looked as though he belonged in an office or a vegan diner, not a gym.

The man stopped by the door at the trophy case, his green eyes roaming over the contents. It was then that Junior realized who this man was.

Junior stood up tall, despite the fact that he knew that the added height made him look more intimidating and adjusted his tie, hoping to make himself look more like he knew what he was doing. He inhaled deeply, and then he approached.

"Mister Torchwick-" He began to speak.

The shorter man's reaction was instantaneous, him half whipping around to face Junior directly, then taking a half-step back as the height different between the two of them became apparent. The man looked Junior up and down for a moment, seeing the suit, then settled on Junior's face.

Junior shouldn't have felt intimidated.

"That's my name, wouldn't want to wear it out now, would we?" The man's smirk stretched into his voice. Torchwick reached out, offering a hand raising an eyebrow as he looked up at Junior. "And which of the fine gentlemen that I spoke to on the phone would you be?"

"Hei Xiong." Junior answered, taking Roman's hand and giving it a firm shake before releasing his hand. "May I show you around?"

"Your name is Hei?" Roman raised an eyebrow, the man hesitating for just a second. He won a nod of comfirmation from Junior before continuing. "Of course, show me around this fine establishment of yours." Roman's green eyes flicked back to the trophy case and he raised a finger, pointing at the case. "Though I would love to hear some of these stories sometime, big guy."

"O-of course." Junior swallowed, stepping out of the way and leading the way into the gym. "I don't really know what all you want to see, so you'll have to tell me what you want-" 

Roman stared ahead at the cabinet in front of him and hummed pensively, listening quietly to what Junior was stuttering out. He looked between the cabinet, and Junior then turned forward, looking into the gym itself. "How about this-" He began. "-you give me the grand tour, and I'll see what I can do for you." 

"A tour." Junior got the word out. "Of course." He stepped up behind Roman and looked in at the gym, where Taiyang was holding a heavy cushion in a braced position, while Raven attacked it. Once in a while, Taiyang would step to the side, forcing Raven to follow him with her blows. He was very glad that the two of them were taking their work seriously today "There's not much to see..." Junior began, looking around the tiny gym where a few other fighters had come in and were practicing on bags and were setting up their areas. "Ring and training area is here." 

Junior raised a hand, gesturing to the door at the very back where he knew James was inside. "Office." He finally stepped forward, walking into the main area of the gym and letting the promoter follow behind him. He stopped at a small hallway. "There's bathrooms with some showers down there, and lockers. Not that anyone uses them." 

He was about to open his mouth to say something more when Junior realized that he didn't have much else to tell Roman about the gym. "There's not much to it." 

Roman frowned- shit, this was going badly, wasn't it?- then looked at the ring, stepping forward and watching as Raven and Taiyang went through their practice. "Is it usually like this?" 

"Yeah, for the most part." Junior said. "We have students come in to learn too." 

Roman nodded, his green eyes still glued to Raven and Taiyang. "I'll have to learn about all of this sometime if I take this job, you know that right... Hei, was it?" 

"Yeah." Junior answered. "If it's easier, just call me Junior. Everyone else does." 

"Junior." Roman raised an eyebrow, but decided to let the issue stay. "So, I suppose we should talk business?"

"Of course." Junior says, crossing the room to the office door at the back of the gym. He paused at the door, hesitated, and raised a hand to knock at the door. Inside, he heard James on the phone with someone. He knew that James would call him in once he was ready. It was awkward. He frowned, and looked down at Roman. "I have to apologize, James is on the phone-" 

"James?" Roman asked. "Partner?"

"More like a brother." Junior answered. "You spoke to him on the phone." 

Roman was opening his mouth to speak when he heard James' voice- definitely the same from the call two days before. Apparently that was all the confirmation that Roman had needed.

"Come in!" The voice came through the door. Junior opened up the door and stepped in, to see that James was bent over the business ledger, scribbling a few notes down of some sort and not looking up. 

"Torchwick is here." Junior announced, grabbing James' attention. He hears the pen scratching stop, and is able to watch as James sits upright now, laying the pen down and pushing back away from the desk. For a moment, he seriously worried that when James stood there was going to be a sign that he was in pain, but James stood upright, stepped away from his desk, and offered his left hand to Roman to shake. 

"A pleasure to finally meet you." James says, as Roman took the hand and gave it a quick, firm shake. James pulled away and looked at Junior, then to Roman. "We should get started." 

"We should." Roman chose the more comfortable of the two chairs that had been set out, and seated himself, setting down his laptop case in front of him and opened it up, reaching inside to remove his notes and any paperwork that would be important to this particular meeting. "But first I need to know exactly what is going on here and why you need me." 

Junior and James exchanged a look, the two trying to decide who was supposed to take the lead in this little meeting of theirs. Junior would have taken the lead to talk about the history of the gym, but the fact of the matter was that he didn't know whether Roman wanted to hear about the history of the gym or whether Roman wanted to know about the business side of things and why they'd made the call. 

After a moment, James took the lead. 

"The fact of the matter," James began, "is that the gym has fallen on... hard times in the last few years. As things stand, the finances aren't looking well and there's the strong possibility that Hei will be unable to pay taxes and any upcoming bills on the current income." 

"Is there a reason for these hard times?" Roman asked. "If this is because you guys have a new landlord and can't handle that, I am not the man you need to call." 

Junior spoke now. "It's a family business." He started, looking down at his hands, folded cleanly in his lap, then up to Roman. "My father owned and managed the gym for many years, but he passed away three years ago. Things have been hard ever since." 

"That makes sense. You mentioned it on the phone." Roman said, scribbling down a note of some sort on the notepad in front of him. "I will have to warn you though, I don't know anything about this business or what I can do for you. What are you looking for, ads? New fighters?" 

James speaks now. "A bit of both, at least in theory." He sits upright, shifting some of his notes about in search of something. "One of the things that has been bounced around as a possibility is trying to host fights here that people would enter into and come to watch." 

Roman clucks his tongue, and Junior finds himself becoming painfully aware of the sound of the man's pen scratching against paper as he took down another note. "That is something that's definitely a bit more inside of my area of expertise. Are there any sorts of things that your gym could make an appearance at that would give you a bit of a spotlight?" 

Now Junior took the lead. "There's a Golden Gloves tournament coming up." He announced to the room. To little surprise, he hears James scratch that down. "I wanted to see about getting a team together to bring there and see if they're able to get us a good name." 

"Fighters picked out?" James asked, raising a brow. 

"I think so." Junior said. "Would... that be a good start Mister Torchwick?"

Roman blinked twice, wrote down another note, and looked between the two much larger men. "I think that might actually be a good start, yeah. I'll have to run some ideas by my partner to see if she has any clue as to what I can do to get you back off the ground again, but I think that could be a good start." 

Junior felt his heart jump in his chest. "You mean it?" 

"Yeah." Roman says, "I'm pretty sure I do. You two seem like charming boys, and I suppose that I'd like a bit of a challenge aside from my usual work." 

"Thank you." Junior says, smiling at Roman and feeling a bit more than elated at the thought. "Is there anything we should do before we meet with you next?" 

"Get your team together." Roman said, looking between the two. "And find out about what you need to do to be able to host fights and whatnot." 

Roman raises an eyebrow and looked between the James and Junior, as though he were looking for them to say something or come forward with a solidified plan. Junior understood what it meant- Roman was giving them space to manage their business before he stepped in to save them.

Ok then. 

Time to take charge. 

Junior spoke up and looked over at James. "Could you write up a sign-up sheet, Jim? Just looking for people willing to represent Team Xiong at the next big tournament." 

"Of course." James shifted in his seat, turning himself so that he could face his computer and began to type up the sheet, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he wrote up a sheet the same way that he had a hundred times before. 

Junior hears him falter. 

Was it pain?

A mistake? 

Something else?

"Hei," James didn't pull his eyes away from his work. "Will you be training them or-" 

"I'll do it." Junior answered, shrugging and looking at Roman, who was scribbling down a few new notes. "If you'll be helping us, we could slot you into the training times so that you can see what we do firsthand leading up to the fights?"

Roman seemed to go pale for a second, and Junior wondered if he could see cinnamon splotches of freckles streching across Roman's nose. It wasn't his concern, Junior reminded himself. Roman looked between James and Junior. "I don't know that learning to fight is such a good idea for me." Roman gestured to his face. "KInd of don't want to get banged up at all." 

James chuckled from behind his desk. "That's why we teach guarding first." The words left Junior with a smirk crossing across his face. James continued. "In a controlled environment, nobody's looks should be harmed." 

"So-"

"We wouldn't even put you against a live opponent." Junior offered. "I was mostly thinking that it'd be better for you to get involved with helping us by experiencing the gym firsthand instead of just watching." 

Roman looked down at the sheet of paper in front of him, and Junior wondered whether he was imagining the way that Roman's pen bent or not. Roman chuckled, then looked between Junior and James for a moment. "How about this-" Roman's green eyes flashed back down to his notebook in front of him. Quickly, he drew out a small calendar with uncannily clean lines. "I'll schedule my next meeting with you two for after you have worked with your new champions."

"That would be perfect." Junior answers before looking back at James, who was still formatting the sign-up sheet. "Do we have a time yet?"

"I was thinking seven on thursdays for the training." James looked across at Roman. "Would that be an issue?"

Roman reached into his satchel again, looking for a small cream-bound planner that held most of his work engagements. He flipped it open and went to a page that had been marked with a soft emerald green ribbon. His pen wandered down the sheet in search of Thursday evenings. 

Junior did his best to see what the inside of Roman's planner, and was glad to see that it was mostly empty on the nights that he needed it to be. Though the nights after were completely booked. Roman looked up at Junior and smirked, cocky. "I can pencil you boys in for Thursday nights. It shouldn't cause too many problems on my end." 

"That's perfect." Junior finally said with a sigh. "We'll do our best to make it-"

"Don't worry about it." Roman smirked through the words. "I think that it'll be a learning experience at the very least." 

"Of course." Junior looked to James, who looked like he was already hitting save on his work. James looked up at him and leaned back in his seat slightly. Junior knew perfectly well that it was the sign that James was trying to get an unimpeded view of Roman over the desk. 

Junior was taller. He didn't have trouble with it. James was shorter though. 

"Is... there anything else you want us to find for you Mister Torchwick?"

"Please-" Roman chuckled. "-Just call me Roman. We're all friends here, aren't we?"

Junior blinked twice. "Right. Of course. Roman." 

Roman smirked. "If you two could get me copies of your ads that you've put out, that would be a major help for me. If you even have anything." 

"We have ads." James spoke up. "Though it's not much to look at." 

"Could I see them, James?"

James looked at Junior. "Could you-"

"Of course." Junior didn't bother to question James on it. He knew that normally James wouldn't have asked, but he was sure that there was a reason for it now. "Which-"

"Second drawer on the right. Under A. It should have its own tab." James didn't look away from the monitor ahead of him. Junior looked at Roman, offered a meek smile in an attempt to make himself seem a little bit less intimidating. He walked around the back of the desk and reached out, letting his fingers dance down to the drawer that James had indicated. 

He pulled it open, and flipped to the first tab that said "A" across the top in his father's unruly print. He pushed the folder apart with two fingers, looking for the subfolder that had been dual labeled. First, in his father's Chinese, and second in James' neat print. Each read "advertisements." 

Finding it, Junior extracted the folder and felt his heart skip a beat at the realization that the folder felt like it was much thinner than it should have been. Had he and James really circulated that few ads in the last few years?

This explained a lot, Junior thought. 

He really hoped that Roman wouldn't judge them for it. 

"It's not much." Junior offered as he leaned over James' shoulder, taking the opportunity to look at the flier that the man had written up as it displayed on the monitor. "But it's all we have."

Roman raised an eyebrow as he looked at the nearly empty folder in front of him. He reached out and touched it, before pushing it across the desk back in Junior’s direction. “Let me guess,” Roman looked up at Junior with a hint of something mischievous in his eyes. “Two fliers and a newspaper ad?”

Shit.

How had he figured it out that easily?

Roman’s words pulled James’ attention away from the monitor and for a moment, just a moment, Junior could have sworn that he’d seen James’ eyes narrow in some sort of animosity, only for it to be pushed back as immediately as it had arisen. 

“Yes.” James muttered a moment later. “That would be correct.’ 

Roman hummed. Junior wished that he could make out what the sound meant. He watched as the thin man stood up, gently pulled down at the bottom of his shirt, and closed his notepad and planner before sliding them into his bag. 

“I’ll see you all on Thursday evening, I suppose.” Roman sounded bored. “I’ll take a look at your ad in the… let me guess, the Gazette, and then I’ll work on what I can do to make you a better one.” 

Junior nodded, feeling half dumbstruck as he picked up the folder again and stored it back away. “Of course.” He said the word. Blinked. “Thursday evening.”

Roman turned, and was about to go out the office door when he paused for a moment. “Is there anything I should bring?”

“Good workout clothes.” James deadpanned from behind the monitor. “And shoes.” 

“Got it. Take it easy, boys.” 

And just like that, Roman Torchwick was gone as easily as he’d come. 

Thursday was going to be an adventure, Junior predicted silently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/)


	5. Proper Form

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to form a proper fist: tutorial level.

Thursday sped forward, and every day Roman was left trying to scramble to figure out how he was supposed to handle his newest commitment. There was a lot more that he didn't know about the business than he knew, but he'd already learned that the gym wasn't exactly the best-run operation on the face of the planet.  
  
That wasn't to say that it was the absolute _worst_ that he'd seen, no, that honor went to a little club a few towns over that had been rotting from the foundation.  
  
This was just a clear case where people who didn't know much about running a business were left in control of one, scrambling to pick up the pieces. Roman had to be honest, though- the little bit that he did know about the history of Xiong's Fitness had certainly pushed him towards wanting to help them more than he had wanted to before.  
  
The business wasn't _beyond_ saving, Roman had decided then and there. It just needed rejuvenation.  
  
He just had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to go about making that happen.  
  
So Thursday morning, Roman came into the office, carrying a heavy bag that held his newly purchased workout clothes- he'd never felt a need to hit the gym before. Going dancing four nights a week for his job kept him in good shape.  
  
He was the first at the office, and he unlocked the door before stepping inside and storing the bag under his desk. Once his things were set aside, Roman began going about getting the office ready for the day. What that meant was mostly doing inane tasks like running a test sheet on his and Summer's shared printer, checking that the bathroom had toilet paper, and checking that nothing in the fridge had somehow gone bad overnight.  
  
Once he was satisfied about the state of the office, Roman allowed himself to relax into his seat with a sigh. He didn't know when Summer would be in for the day, but he was willing to bet that she would be bringing him coffee along with her presence.

And how did he want coffee.  
  
He let his eyes slip shut and tilted his head back as he thought about the day to come.  
  
Today was the day where he, Roman Torchwick, was going to learn how to properly throw a punch.

It wasn't a skill that he'd ever imagined he'd ever _need_ . When he was younger, he'd been picked on a lot, yes, but Roman had learned quickly to attach himself to people who were bigger and stronger than him. And he was glad to convince them that he was worth protecting. When he'd started working for nightclubs, he'd never needed to learn either. Bouncers existed for a reason.  
  
So that just left Roman feeling absolutely puzzled as to what was going through his head when he had decided that he was going to go in for the training of "Team Xiong" tonight. And he was even more confused as to why he'd agreed to let Junior turn it into a learning experience for him. He had enough learning experiences going to his car every morning, he didn't need more of them.  
  
Ultimately, Roman was just very, very confused.  
  
He opened his eyes at the sound of the door opening, with Summer stepping inside, dressed in a cute yellow sundress that always made her look like a sunrise. He smiled sweetly at the woman as she set a small tray with two cups of coffee down between them.  
  
Roman reached out and took the one that had been labelled "Norman," guessing that the barista had misheard Summer when she'd placed her order that morning. "Good morning, Sunshine." Roman chuckled, uncapping the coffee and drinking in the scent as he tried to figure out what she'd decided to bring him this morning. "How are you doing?"  
  
Summer rolled her eyes, setting down her bag next to her desk before sitting down and carefully changing how her dress draped over her legs. "Roman, I've had a long night, let me tell you."  
  
"What's going on?" Roman asked, raising a brow. This was a common conversation for the two of them. Every day, it seemed like one of them had 'had quite the night.' He watched her relax into her seat, taking her own cup of coffee and raise it to her lips. Her eyes slid shut for just a second, then she spoke up.  
  
"Just one of my clients." Summer sighed. "Did you know that apparently Atlantic Salmon can't be served at an engagement where there are going to be salmon colored tablecloths?"  
  
Roman chuckled. He'd heard a lot of things like this when he still worked on weddings.  
  
Never again. There was _nothing_ worse than a control freak.  
  
"Let me guess." Roman sipped his coffee, deciding that he liked how it came. "Salmon and salmon was too monochrome for their liking."  
  
"Exactly!" Summer cried. "I didn't tell the caterer to serve salmon, they did. I don't know what I did wrong in this, but I just-" Summer's face screwed up with frustration. He heard her inhale deeply, then exhale slowly. A trick that she'd learned the one week that she and him had taken advantage of a client owning a yoga studio. "I'm just tired, Pumpkin. I don't know what to do."  
  
Roman sighed. "I don't know there's anything you can do, Sunshine." He sighed the nickname out. "Just deal with it I guess. Or try to get them to change the menu or the tablecloths."  
  
"I miss our free yoga classes, Roman. _That_ was a good way to relax." Summer whined, turning on her computer for the first time that morning so that she'd be able to do her job. "I have the night off, but I just-" Summer groaned, half collapsing into her desk chair. "I want to sleep forever and never have to hear about salmon again."  
  
"Ever?"  
  
" _Ever_ ." Summer affirmed. "I'll never have a salmon and cream cheese bagel in the morning again. I swear on it."  
  
Roman laughed. "I'll believe _that_ when I see it." He looked at his calendar for just a moment, thinking about the fact that he had things to do that night. He looked over at Summer, then let a slow smile split his grin. "You know, I have this thing tonight. If you want to come, I'm sure that the guys I'm working with wouldn't mind."  
  
Summer cocked her head, trying to figure out what Roman was talking about. "Let me guess. Ladies night at the Platinum?"  
  
Roman rolled his eyes. "As much as I love Ladies Night at the Platinum, I'm afraid not." He looked at Summer directly now, catching her silver eyes. "I'm helping that one gym out. And I agreed to come in and let them teach me what they do while I do what I do."  
  
"So?"

"Should I get down on one knee?"  
  
"No, you don’t have to do that." Summer giggled. "Not that I'd mind."  
  
Roman grinned. "Summer, would you do me the honor of  accompanying me to punch things tonight?"  
  
"Will we get to ogle the boxers?"  
  
"Probably." Roman says, setting his coffee down on his desk. "They're going to be training some for a tournament, so I'm sure we'll have _plenty_ of time to ogle."  
  
"With that in mind, I am _definitely_ in." Summer smiled. "This sounds way better than having to talk about salmon."  
  
"Anything is better than talking about salmon." Roman smirks. "And besides, I don't think I know what I'm doing with these guys other than getting them better ads yet. Maybe you'll think of something."  
  
Summer leaned back in her seat, uncrossed her legs and hummed. “I think I’ll accept your proposal, Roman Torchwick. But we better be careful tonight, we wouldn’t want a scandal.”  
  
“Oh, of course not.”  Roman chuckled. “The last thing anyone needs is a scandal.”  
  
Roman turned in his seat, squared his shoulders, and finally looked forward at his empty desk. He opened up his bag, removed his laptop, and set it up on his desk so that he could actually start doing his job. “I’ll just email his… I think he said his brother?” Roman hummed, watching the computer go through its boot time routine. “And let them know that I’m bringing a friend along.”  
  
Summer did the same as him now, turning in her seat so that she could do her job. “Remind me to bring you along to the benefit when it happens, Roman. I’m sure you won’t complain about the color of the food.”  
  
“I’ll only complain if it’s blue.” Roman smiled, watching as his computer wallpaper came up, the first sign that his laptop was in fact ready. “The best part of this job is the perks. By far.”  
  
“I do this job for the perks.”  
  
“You aren’t the first and you certainly won’t be the last, Sunshine.”  
  
“Says the guy getting free boxing lessons.”  
  
“You’re going to get them too!” Roman opened up the program that linked directly to his email and began quickly checking through the messages. “I just need to let them know I’m bringing you along.”  He began checking off names down the side of his emails, careful to make sure that he was able to keep any trash out of his inbox. He hesitated on one of the emails, which looked like it was from Xiong's, based on the address.  
  
He opened it up, and read the message over. It was from James, which he probably should have been able to guess based on the way the meeting had gone. He opened it up, and read the message over quickly. It was clarifications on the rules that they would need to follow in able to get the business up to par for them to be able to host fights.  
  
Roman read them over three or four times, copied the email, and pasted it into a fresh document so that he'd be able to print off the notes that he needed and add it to the file that he was compiling for Xiong's. He went back to the email, and typed out of a quick response to James, with a thank you for the things that he needed to know.  
  
At the end of the email, he added the note about him bringing Summer, who he described as a business associate and a request to hear back from James or Junior before that evening. Roman hit send on the message and turned away from his computer. "Well, I've contacted them. So now, we'll have to wait."  
  
"Good." Summer said. If Roman had looked over his shoulder he would have seen that she was looking over a caterer's menu trying to find a way to satisfy her picky client. "I've gotta do my job, Pumpkin. We'll talk over lunch?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
The day began to fly by for the two of them at rapid speeds. Roman was able to deeply involve himself in his work, bouncing between businesses that needed to be contacted and looked into, and working on putting together new advertisements for nightclubs and working on new promotions. It wasn't the most interesting work that he had to do, but it was something.  
  
Roman heard back from James about an hour after he'd sent off the email to him.  
  
The news that him bringing Summer along was alright was more than welcome, and so it meant that Roman had one less thing to worry about for the day.  
  
Come four o'clock, Roman and Summer were both packing up for the day. The plan was that they were going to drive out to Summer's house so that she could get something to wear that she could work out in, and then they were going to get a light dinner before going to Xiong's for the night. They took their time, since they didn't have to be at the gym until seven or so.  
  
They stayed at Summer's house for an hour or two. While Summer got a gym bag together, Roman sat on her couch with his laptop, doing his best to get some research on what he was going to be walking into that night done. He didn't know what he had to look forward to, but he figured that trying to do some written research wouldn't hurt.  
  
Summer came out of her bedroom, with her red hair tied back in a short ponytail and dressed in yoga pants and a cute tank top that Roman had last seen her wear on one of their yoga trips. She flopped down onto the couch beside Roman, and smiled up at him. "You excited to go punch things?"  
  
"I don't know." Roman said, sighing. "I'm not really... I'm not one for this sort of thing."  
  
"But we'll get to ogle the boxers."  
  
"But there is that." Roman chuckled. "Summer, let me tell you, I went in there a few days ago and I'm pretty sure that the owner could snap me in half with one hand."  
  
"Do you want him to?"  
  
Roman felt himself flush, and reached up to the lid of the laptop, closing it. "I mean, I'm usually one for being snapped in half by someone bigger than me. But I don't know. He seemed...."  
  
"Straight?"  
  
"Probably." Roman sighed. "But I was going to say awkward." He looked over at Summer, who looked like she was ready to take on the world, like she hadn't spent the entire day at a desk wanting for her brains to fall out so she wouldn't have to think about whatever inane requests had been sent her away. "You know we have to get going."  
  
"I know." Summer said. “You need to get dressed.”

Roman chuckled and got up, picking up his gym bag and dragging himself off to Summer’s washroom where he was able to change into a pair of black pants that probably fit him a little too well and a tank with colorful printed pattern of some fireworks on the front. Once he was done, Roman stepped into the living room, where Summer was sitting.

“Ready?”

“ _Duh._ ” She pushed herself up off the couch, and Roman put his laptop in his bag before stretching for just a moment. Summer led the way to the door, and Roman followed. He watched as she slipped into the good pair of running shoes that she'd bought a month before. He remembered them because he'd been with her when she made that particular purchase. "You know how to get to this place, right?"  
  
"Duh." Roman chuckled. "My car or yours?"  
  
"Hm, let me think." Summer made a show of it, raising a finger and placing it against her lips. Her silver eyes narrowed, and then the finger was pointing at Roman. "I think yours."  
  
"Very well." Roman opened the door and stepped out, waiting for a moment while Summer double checked that she had everything before leaving the apartment herself. Together, they walked down to the car. Roman turned on the radio, and Summer settled into the passenger's seat. She opened up Roman's glovebox and reached in, finding a pair of sunglasses and slipping them on.  
  
Roman let a smirk crease his face. "Give me my sunglasses."  
  
"I look better in them than you."  
  
Roman reached over, pulling his sunglasses off of Summer's face. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to lie?" He put the sunglasses on and turned the car on, pulling out of Summer's parking lot and beginning the drive across town to Xiong's. He settled into his seat, happy to feel the wind in his hair again.  
  
_Ugh_.  
  
His hair was going to be positively _ruined_ by the time he got to the gym.  
  
Summer watched the cars pass by, and when they pulled up to the gym, she was the first out of the car, happy to look up and inspect the building. Roman got out himself, grabbing both his gym bag and his work bag and looked at the building himself.  
  
"Needs work, right?"  
  
"Definitely." Summer says. "Doesn't even stand out as a gym from the outside."  
  
"I'll make a note of that for them." Roman says, reaching out and pulling the door open for Summer, holding it so that she could step into the gym first. "After you, Sunshine."  
  
"Oh, Mister Torchwick, how kind of you." Summer laughed with a half put on accent, stepping into the gym. Roman stepped in after her, and let the door swing closed behind him.  
  
The last time Roman had come to Xiong's, it had been _nothing_ like how it was tonight. The last time Roman had come in, the gym had been nearly empty, aside from Xiong, James, and the two boxers that had taken up the ring. Tonight, it was different though. In other businesses, Roman would have likened it to going to a bar on a Wednesday night when there were no promotions to going to a bar during happy hour. Tonight, this place looked like a business, not like someone’s pet project.  
  
Roman looked up at the ring that was stationed directly in front of him. He could see two men in the ring, joined by James, who wore a black and white striped sweater and leaned against the ropes, content as long as he was out of harm's way. The two men passed by each other time after time. The blond would throw a punch, the guy with greying hair would block and try to retaliate.  
  
Duck.  
  
Weave.  
  
Throw a punch.  
  
Repeat.  
  
In that moment, Roman realized how horrifyingly out of place he was in this gym. This wasn't his element. He belonged on dance floors, or at clean social gatherings. The world of sweat, blood, and musky gyms wasn't his world. He was too small, he was too weak, everything about this place just screamed to Roman that _he didn't belong there._  
  
Summer on the other hand?  
  
_Well..._  
  
"Oh god, I can _smell_ the testosterone." Summer says at Roman's side, watching the two men in the ring. Her eyes were glued to both of them, and Roman could sympathize. She looked over at Roman. "Did you invite me to this so that you would feel less awkward?"  
  
"Yes and no." Roman whispered. "I figured you might have ideas, I meant that."  
  
"Right, right." Summer chirped back. "Should we go further in?"  
  
"Yeah." Roman sighed, leading the way in and hoping for a moment that nobody would notice him and Summer's arrival. He scanned the small crowd that had gathered there, looking for Xiong but not seeing him anywhere. Roman frowned, and his eyes went to the back of the gym, where he saw that the door to the small office that the meeting had been in was closed.  
  
Was Xiong not in?  
  
Behind him and Summer, the door to the gym opened. Roman was about to step out of the way, but when he looked up, he realized that it was Junior, carrying a twelve pack of some sort of sports drink.  
  
Junior hesitated for a moment, before deciding to say something. "You made it."  
  
"I did." Roman replied, then looked to Summer. "And this is my co-worker-"  
  
"Summer Rose." Cutting Roman off, Summer extended a hand to Junior. "It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"Uh, thank you." Junior shifted the package of bottles carefully so that he wouldn't end up dropping them and extended his hand to Summer's. When they shook hands, Roman saw Summer's entire hand disappear into Junior's grip. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel or think about that, but for some reason, Roman had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to pull his mind away from that for a while. "You two ready to start?"  
  
"I'm ready." Summer's silver eyes slid over to Junior as she reclaimed her hand. "And I think Roman is?"  
  
Roman's mouth gaped for just a moment, before he straightened himself back out. "I am, Junior. How do you want me?"  
  
_Shit._ __  
__  
_What was he doing?_ __  
  
Junior stiffened at Roman's question, and for a moment Roman's mind raced with potential apologies. With things that he was supposed to say to make this all better. Junior looked to the ring, then back to Summer and Roman. Sighed heavily. "I was going to have you on the bags for tonight."  
  
"Ah." Summer smiled. "On the bags." Her silvery eyes slid over to Roman. He could see the mark of something evil brewing in those eyes, but he didn't know what it could possibly be.  
  
"Right." Junior said. "The bags. If you'll give me a moment?"  
  
"Take your time, big guy." Roman did his best to not make himself sound like the most awkward person on the face of the planet. Confidence only went so far. "We'll be waiting."  
  
Junior nodded and went up to the ring. He raised a hand, and Roman heard it almost immediately followed by a whistle from James. The two boxers split apart, with each going to different corners of the ring while James crossed it. Roman watched as he leaned over the ropes, talking to Junior about something, though Roman couldn't figure out what. The package of drinks was set down, and then Junior stepped back away.  
  
Another whistle.  
  
The fight restarted.  
  
Junior went back to Summer and Roman. Gestured further into the gym. that's all that  needed to do, not a word had to be said for all of them to know what was going on. "So, I'm going to put you in gloves-" Junior lifted up a punching bag and hoisted it up, hanging it and throwing a quick punch at it to make sure that it was in secure. "-I don't want anyone getting hurt on their first visit here."  
  
"That sounds perfect." Roman says, looking at the dark green bag where it hung in front of him and Summer. He didn't have even the slightest clue as to what this was supposed to teach him about managing a gym. His eyes slid to Summer. "Ladies first?"  
  
Summer grinned and looked at the bag. "Bring it on. What do I have to do?"  
  
"Uh, well first, you'll have to slow down." Junior said, sheepishly. "I don't even know if you can form a proper fist or not yet."  
  
What?  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Roman asked, looking at Junior's hands- he wondered if they were large enough to match a bear track or not, then looked down at his own hands. Soft. Uncalloused. Clean. Painted nails. This wasn't what he was built for, by any means. "Isn't making a fist just-" Roman balled his hands up into fists.  
  
"Uh... yes and no." Junior reached out. "May I?"  
  
"Go for it." Roman smirked into the words.  
  
Junior took Roman's hand in his, and opened it up. "When you form a fist, there's a certain... form about it. If you do it wrong, you'll break something."  
  
"So what do I do?"  
  
"Extend your fingers." Roman listened, and waited for the next instruction. At his side, Summer did the same. Junior continued his instruction. "You want to push your fingers together so that they're tight, _yeah_ , like that."

"What's next?"  
  
"Curl them until the tips touch the base of your fingers." Junior raised a hand, demonstrating. When Roman looked, he didn't know what he was supposed to be looking for. "Keep curling your fingers until they hit your palm, but the nails shouldn't be cutting in."  
  
Roman did as instructed, and folded his thumb over his index finger, just as he'd seen Junior do. When he looked over, he saw that Summer had done the same thing.  
  
Junior reached out for Roman's hand, and for a moment, Roman wondered what the man was doing. What he was intending to do. The large paw-like hand wrapped around Roman's, and he felt Junior squeeze.  
  
"What are you doing?" Roman looked down at his hand, clutched in Junior's then up to the taller man's eyes. Or rather, he tried to, and instead got a direct look at the man's chest.

His glorious, muscular chest.

Shit.  
  
"Checking your fist." Junior released him and stepped over to Summer. "If your fist is made properly, it should be tight. No bones moving around or anything." Roman let his eyes follow Junior's hand, and watched as he squeezed. "It looks like you're both good."  
  
"Ok?" Summer asked. "What now?"  
  
"You can drop the fist." Junior says, going to a locker, which he opened up to remove two pairs of boxing gloves.. "You'll want these to make sure that you don't get hurt. Summer, you first."  
  
Summer offered up her hands, and Junior walked them through how to put on the gloves. Roman listened carefully, and he wondered whether gloves were a way in which he could get the gym money. Whether advertisements could be printed across them.  
  
Junior strapped Summer into her gloves, then got Roman's into his. He looked over the glove, and smiled.  
  
"I want you both to take turns. Hit the bag as hard as you can."  
  
Roman hauled his entire body into a punch. 

The chains the bag hung from rattled weakly. Summer took her turn.

Wash.

Rinse.

Repeat.


	6. Busywork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning is hard work

In the office late that night, everyone sat gathered around the desk.  James was sitting behind it with a notebook sitting in his lap, reading off a list of names. The black and white striped sweater that he'd worn earlier that night had been abandoned, James now wearing a thick black cord sweater instead.

Summer sat in a steel chair, one leg crossed over the other, and looking as though she was thoroughly exhausted after her and Roman's boxing lessons. Beside her, Roman was in a matching steel chair, laptop open on the edge of the desk in front of him as he took down notes.

Junior?

He simply leaned against the side of the desk on the same side as James was on.

"So Team Xiong will be Xiao Long, Port, and Branwen by the looks of things." James announced, looking up from the notepad to let his eyes scan over the others in the room. "We'll enter Taiyang in the light heavyweight division." James began. "He's tall enough that he'll be effective, and certainly light enough to move around, if a bit slow."

"How's his guarding?" Junior asked, looking over at James, who raised an eyebrow, as though he wasn't sure exactly why Junior was asking him this particular question as opposed to judging the answer on his own.

"Why are you asking me?" James deadpanned.

"Because you won tournaments on guarding alone." Junior responds, thinking back to learning to fight alongside James. "You're the expert."

"He's too slow." James said, his voice tight. A quiet reminder that that was before. That things were different now. "But he's strong."

"Ok." Junior said. "What about Peter?"

"He's short." James answered. "And built like a heavyweight."

Out of the corner of his eye, Junior could see Roman shifting around in his seat. as though he was uncomfortable with the most recent criticism that he'd just heard of one of the boxers. That wasn't a surprise. What James had said didn't exactly sound good to the uninitiated, Junior realized.

"What does that mean?" Summer asked, tilting her head. "Built like a heavyweight?"

"Dense." Junior clarified. "Not really built for speed."

Roman wrote something down on his laptop, and Junior wondered exactly what he'd just written down. What it would mean in the long run. "Would he be an easy sell for an underdog?"

"He would be." James answered. "Not the best to bet on though."

"Hm." Roman typed something else. Junior figured that he would get a chance to ask about it later on. "And what about the third boxer?"

"Raven Branwen." Junior mumbled. "She works here a lot of the time, coaching other boxers."

"Is she good?" Summer asked.

"Very." Junior sighed the word out. "But a bit of a glass cannon."

James nodded, humming behind the desk and taking down a note of his own. Junior peered over James' shoulder, seeing that it said the word ' _ unreliable _ ' in James' even scrawl. It was telling, but Junior didn't mind it.

"So why don't we sell her?"

"How do you want to sell her Roman?" Summer deadpanned. "She doesn't seem like one of your usual club girls."

“Ok, so first of all-” Roman raised a hand, holding one finger up. "I only have promoted one strip club."

"One more than you should have." Summer grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Admittedly, yes." Roman replied, dropping his hand and drumming it against the edge of his keyboard. "But what I'm saying is can she be used to advertise? If she's a winner, then she'd be good for your ads."

James and Junior's eyes met for a second. Junior inhaled deeply, and sighed. "I'm afraid that wouldn't work out so well for us. Ring girls are a tradition at matches, but I don't think Raven would take kindly to being treated like that." Junior and Roman's eyes met for a fleeting moment, before Junior pulled his gaze away. "I think if we're going to be promoting the club in competition based on fighters, Taiyang is our best bet."

"The blonde guy with the black eye?" Roman asked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Junior said, looking to James. "We can mold him, make him stronger. And in competition, he might just be able to make his way up the ranks to become a champion."

"Ok, that's good and all-" Roman leaned back in his seat, and crossed one leg over the other. "-But has this guy ever been in competition? Or is this an unknown factor? I need to know what I'm working with."

"He's fought before." James says from beside Junior. He sounded bored. "Though not at this level."

"And?"

"He won." Junior said. "He's our best bet."

Junior let his eyes slide from person to person once again, as though he were doing his best to size up the other people in the room so that he would know what he was going to be dealing with. It was almost like trying to figure out competition. Almost like meeting someone at a weigh in before a match.

And yet, it was nothing like it.

These were  _ business partners _ . Not people that he was going to step into the ring and go blow for blow with. This was a different sort of battle that they were fighting, and it was one that Junior was personally  _ vastly _ unclear on how to navigate.

There was a lot of him that just wanted to walk away from the situation and leave everyone else to figure this out. But he couldn't do that. Not when the stakes were so high, or when the thing at stake was losing his father's business.

He couldn't let that happen most of all.

Losing the gym was absolute, one hundred percent, out of the question.

"-Hei?" A voice. " _ Hei. _ "

The name didn't even register as being his own for a moment before he felt a nudge at his side. Looked down to see James' left elbow, moving away from him.

"Hei." James growled his name out. "Pay attention, would you?"

Junior blinked once. Twice. Inhaled deeply as he tried to put together what had just happened. Had he just spaced out, or had he gotten lost in all of the discussion and allowed himself to turn his brain off to what was happening around him?

"What is it?" He finally asked. Junior could  _ feel _ Roman and Summer's eyes on him.

It was not a comfortable feeling, by any means. He wasn't even sure what he'd been asked, just that that he had absolutely no idea what it was that they wanted out of him. And that he wanted them to stop staring at him.

He wasn't worth staring at.

_ Why were they staring at him? _

"Mister Torchwick-" James began, only to be cut off by Roman almost immediately.

"Please, call me Roman, Jimmy." Roman smirked into the words.

Junior rolled his eyes. He knew James more than well enough to know what was coming next.

"It's James." The man deadpanned. James set his pen down and raised a hand to squeeze the bridge of his nose in an obviously annoyed motion. "Roman was asking about the practice plan for the team."

"Oh." Junior said. Frowned. He hadn't really thought about it, admittedly. "I figured we were going to make it a regular thing. Same place, same time every week."

"Which is what they would expect." James grumbled. "He wants to bring in a photographer."

Junior opened his mouth slightly, the fact showing clear on his face that he didn't know why bringing in a photographer was a good idea. "Can we even afford that?"

James sighed. "Technically, no, we can't." James frowned. "We can't really afford  _ anything _ extra these days."

"Which is why I would handle the arrangements." Roman piped up. "I might have some favors in high places, could get you a photographer for free if that's what you need."

"Favors?"

Summer piped up now. "It's a common thing. Business owners usually feel indebted to people like us so we end up with offers for help in the future a lot of the time."

"So what you're saying-" James twirled his pen between his fingers. "-Is that you get job perks."

"Yes." Roman replied, his voice hardening and his eyes darkening. "Really nice ones too."

Junior swallowed, realizing that there was a clash of personalities playing out in this office. He and Summer were mostly safe, but he could tell that James wasn't happy about having Roman around.

He wished he knew why that was.

Time to step in, then.

"Ok, so if you can get a photographer, that's good." Junior mumbled. "But why do we need one?"

Roman sat up a bit, and Junior saw that he was typing something onto that laptop. If only he knew what Roman was looking up. "Well, I was thinking that if you two need to get business, you need better ads. You advertise like you're a lawn mowing business run by a twelve year old."

"So-"

"So what I want to do is bring in a photographer and draw up some new ads of your boxers  _ in action. _ " Roman smiled up at him. "How's that sound, big guy?"

"Uh, I think it sounds good." Junior blinked, not really sure what it would be that Roman wanted to get for his advertisements. It was all Greek to him. He didn't know a thing about advertising, and he couldn't pretend that he did.

Roman smiled. "I'll be sure to see who I can get to about it. I'm sure it'll work out…favorably." Of all the things that Junior had expected for Roman to do, it was for Roman to wink at him with that phrase.

_ Why would Roman wink over that? _

James shifted in his seat and scribbled down another note. This one, Junior was able to read quite clearly. It was a note that just said to inform the newly selected "Team Xiong" about the fact that there would be a photographer at this next practice.

It was a relief, Junior realized. James was simply making sure that their business was taken care of.

Summer looked at Roman, then to Junior. "Do you think you'll need me next week?" She found her phone in her pocket, and turned it on.

"Not your style?" Junior asked, curious as to why the woman was asking. "Because if you don't want to practice but want to help Roman that's fine-"

Summer raised a hand and waved it gently, as though she were waving away all of Junior's troubles  with the motion. It was sort of comforting, Junior thought. "I've got a business engagement next week, is all." Summer smiled, her voice cheerful and sounding like she didn't have a single care in the world. "I can't miss it is all."

"Oh, I think we should be fine next week in that case." Junior said meekly.

The sound of a stomach growling interrupted the quiet of the office.

Everyone looked amongst each other, trying to figure out who the sound had come from. It was then that Roman, in all of his rambunctiousness spoke up, drawing the attention of the entire room on him. "I think that might be a sign for this little meeting of ours to end." Roman chuckled, reaching out so that he could close the lid on his laptop. "Sunshine, how does dinner sound?"

"I could kill for a gyro." Summer said, smiling over at Roman. "But I think it would be a little rude to go out for dinner without inviting some guests?"

What?

Junior couldn't tell what was going on. All of the sureness about this meeting, everything that had told him that this was going to go off without a hitch fell away. Why would Summer invite him and James for dinner?

Roman finally closed the lid on his laptop, and lifted his bag onto the desk with a slight sway in his hips that went with the motion. Junior almost wanted to question what that was about, but quickly decided that it wouldn't be polite to do so.

"You know, I think that Summer might be right?" The man's green eyes slid between James and Junior. "How about dinner? You boys like gyros?"

Junior's mouth gaped open for a moment as he searched for what he wanted to say. Whether going out for dinner with these two was a good idea at all. He turned his head to look at James. "Should we?"

James sighed. Junior realized very quickly, that James' response was probably going to be a resounding 'No, I don't want to go out for dinner." He watched as James shifted in his seat, looking deeply uncomfortable- had he taken his medication at lunch as he should have?

James finally answered. "I think I'd rather call it a night." He said, his voice quiet. "Just... stiff."

"Stiff?" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow. The redhead's mouth was about to open, but before he could say anything, Junior piped up, cutting Roman off before he could go any further and make things go sour.

"You can take the car if you want, Jim." Junior offered. "If you need to rest."

James sighed. Nodded. "That would be good. But how will you..."

"I can get you home if you need me to." Roman looked up at Junior, a certain light in his eyes that seemed to be permanent. "It's no skin off of my back."

Summer clapped her fingers together. "That sounds wonderful."

Junior wondered for a moment if the woman had alterior motives.

"So, gyros?" Junior asked after a moment. He reached down into his pocket, looking for his keys before realizing that they weren't there. They were probably still in his jacket. He walked over to the coatrack where his and James' coats usually were and began searching the pockets for his keys. "You know a good place?" Junior's fingers brushed the keys. He pulled up the ring, and walked over to the  desk, setting the keys down on the desk within James' reach..

"Oh, we know a place." Summer beamed, stood up, and she stretched slightly. She made a quiet whining sound, that sounded like it was both pained and contented. "That good with you?"

"Yeah, I think so." Junior smiled.

At the desk, James was turning off the computer and getting ready to go home for the night. The keys had been picked up and pocketed, and James was moving stiffly as he navigated the area behind the desk.

Junior raised his voice. "Jim?"

"Yes?" James asked, sliding a drawer shut as he stored the stapler away inside of it.

"You ok with locking up?"

James nodded. "Yeah, I can do it."

"Look you don't have to-"

"I'll get the bags down in the morning." James mumbled. "I think it'll be fine."

"Alright." Junior finally said. He slipped his jacket on, and smiled, looking between Roman and Summer. "We can go whenever."

"Sounds fantastic." Roman closed his bag, smiling widely. He reached up, pushing a lock of red hair out of his face with the gentle brush of his fingers, and for a moment, Junior couldn't help to think that the motion was attractive.

Nonchalant.

Summer was in the corner, collecting her bag so that she could head out. Roman joined her, picking up his own gym bag with a quick motion. When the two were ready, Roman was the one to speak up about that fact.

"I think it's time to go, boss."

"Uh, right." Junior said. He followed the two out of the gym, and for the first time in a while Junior didn't go ahead and say goodbye to the gym, he didn't stop at that trophy case by the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was originally longer but I had to cut it in half to make it a bit more of a comfortable read, so I'm sorry about the length. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


	7. Meet and Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman, Junior, and Summer share dinner. They talk.

Outside, there were only two cars left. The first, was his own car, which James would be taking home that night. The second was a bright orange convertible, that had the top up, and looked entirely too flashy to belong to a regular patron at his gym.  
  
He didn't know _anyone_ that would drive something like that.  
  
Which meant that based on how Roman acted, it was _definitely_ Roman's.  
  
Roman set his bag down next to the tiny trunk of the car, and reached into his pocket, removing his keys and unlocking the car with a quiet chirping sound. There was a low thud, and Roman pulled the trunk open and set his things down inside of it.  
  
Summer stopped at the back of the car next. She lowered her bag down into the open trunk as well.  
  
Roman's eyes turned onto Junior then. "Want the trunk?"  
  
"Yeah." Junior said, looking down at the duffel bag that was hanging off of his shoulder. He shrugged it off, letting it rest gently on top of the other two bags. Once he was done, he stepped back one foot and Roman closed the trunk of his car.  
  
"Sunshine, would you mind taking the back seat?" Roman asked, voice both sweet and teasing, and a laughing smirk creasing his face. "Because I'm willing to bet that Junior here has never ridden in a convertible before."  
  
Summer, all at once, put on a fake pout. "But Roman, I thought I was your one and only." All at once, she dropped the act, giggling and waving a hand. "Yeah, I don't mind. You can sit with your-"  
  
" _Summer._ " Roman put on an offended voice. " _That's lewd._ "  
  
Junior blinked once. Then twice. Didn't question it. He went to the passenger's seat on the car, and pulled the door open so that he could slide in. However, there was a long moment's hesitation. Would he even be able to ride in this car without the top down?  
  
Luckily for Junior, Roman was already in the driver's seat, turning on the car, and hitting the button that would allow for him to lower the roof. It peeled away slowly, leaving the top part of the car exposed. Once it was done retracting, Junior took his seat.  
  
"Buckle up, buttercup." Roman chuckled as he put the car into drive. He pulled out of the parking space, and reached over to the radio, turning it on so that they could listen to some music during the drive.  
  
Junior realized then and there that he felt like he was _completely_ out of place.  
  
Roman and Summer seemed like the types to live the high life, Junior thought. Convertibles and nightclubs, nice shoes and clothes. It was, ultimately, very different to what he was used to. He could perhaps mold himself enough that he could fit in with the pair, but they would never be able to seem in place at him and James' apartment.  


They were from two different worlds. 

All at once, the excitement that he had felt to spend time with Roman and Summer was gone. Replaced with a quiet anxiety that screamed " _you don't belong_."  
  
They pulled onto the street, and when he finally felt the soft comfort of the wind blowing through his hair, and _oh_ was it pleasant, he was able to relax a bit. He didn't know what to say, but then he heard the sound of Roman's voice.  
  
"So, Junior." Roman said. "Tell me about yourself, why don't you?"  
  
"Uh..." Junior hesitated. He didn't know why Roman was asking him this, and he knew why Roman wanted to know this even less. "Why?"  
  
"Because if you and I are going to be partners," Roman started, "I figure it's a good idea for you and I to get to know each other. Release any tension."  
  
Junior wondered then and there whether Roman spoke exclusively in innuendos.  
  
Probably not.  
  
OK.  
  
_Maybe_ he did.  
  
"So you want to get to know me-"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Because you want to be better partners."  
  
"Yup." Roman popped the 'p' at the end of the word, smiling as he pulled up to a stoplight. "So tell me about yourself. How does a nice guy like you end up punching things for a living?"  
  
"Oh." Junior thought about the question, and he realized very quickly that it was entirely likely that he didn't actually have a good answer for that question. What was there that he _could_ say other than he learned to box from his father? "Uh, my dad taught me."  
  
"Ah, the father." Roman said. A new song came on the radio, and the dance beats were strong enough that Junior could feel the car vibrate with them. It was a different sensation, but just as Junior was about to relax again, Roman's hand darted out, snakelike, and hit the button to change the channel. "Let me tell you, I _cannot_ listen to that song without getting war flashbacks-"  
  
"Let me guess." Came Summer’s voice from the back seat. "How many times did you hear it at the foam party?"  
  
"Too many." Roman sighed the words out. "We need to get a better DJ at that place-"  
  
Junior wondered silently what a foam party was. And whether he wanted to know what a foam party was.  
  
He was willing to bet that he didn't want to know what a foam party was.  
  
Summer thought, humming quietly. "I might have a guy."  
  
"Oh, thank god." Roman sighed. The man shook his head, his red hair splaying out of his face with the wind. "So, about that father."  
  
And that was it. the attention was back on Junior and he didn't have the slightest clue what he was supposed to say. "Uh, he taught me when I was a kid. He bought the gym when he moved here."  
  
"Where's he from?"  
  
"China." Junior answered, shortly. "Boxing is..."  
  
Hesitated.  
  
Looked for the right words.  
  
"Boxing is cross-cultural. The rules don't change, and everyone understands that."  
  
God, this sounded stupid. Boxing wasn't something like mathematics, it wasn't nearly as universal as he wanted to say it was. As he wanted to pretend it was. He closed his eyes, blinked for a moment to banish the dry feeling in his eyes that the wind was giving him. "It's just... it helped my family get our feet under us when we moved here."  
  
"So he taught you."  
  
"Yeah." Junior answered, as though there wasn't anything else to say about it. And there wasn't. That was really the long and short of it. "He built the gym, and he ran the business for years and years and then-" Abruptly, Junior cut himself off, realizing what he was saying and where this was going. He didn't want to deal with that pain, he didn't want for Summer or Roman to have to deal with that either. "Well, James and I run the gym now. That's what matters."  
  
Roman nodded. The man reached across the car, nonchalant, and opened up the glovebox in front of Roman, removing the pair of sunglasses from inside before quickly slamming it back shut. Roman slid the sunglasses on.  
  
It was night, Junior thought, why did Roman need sunglasses?  
  
"Well, it looks like you're doing your best, and that's what matters." Roman finally said, as he pulled up to a restaurant that Junior had somehow never seen before. The car pulled into the parking lot, and Roman parked, leaving Summer and Junior to both get out, one after the other. Junior exited the car as quickly as he could, knowing that Roman couldn't close the roof with him in the car, and Summer got out, and stood next to Junior.  
  
The woman smiled up at him. "Thank you for the lesson today, Junior." Summer said. Junior opened his mouth to say something, but found himself unsure as to what he was supposed to say to her. It almost was like she'd taken on a new personality, albeit briefly. This wasn't the playfully bickering woman that he'd been working with and teaching earlier. No, this was sincere. "I had fun." Summer finished.  
  
"Uh, thank you." Junior said after a long pause. God, he _really_ didn't belong here. He blinked. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Summer."  
  
"It was fun. Seems like good stress relief." Summer commented. She shifted her weight slightly, looking forward as Roman finally got out of the car.  
  
It was good stress relief, Junior thought, as long as you weren't drowning because you were trying to run a failing business.  
  
"It can be." Junior mumbled, and Roman joined them smirking.  
  
"How about that dinner?" Roman offered, eyes flicking between Summer and Junior. "Sorry about the wait, I needed to be sure that Sheila was happy, you know?"  
  
Sheila?  
  
Did Roman have a name for his car?  
  
Summer spoke up now, half-hopping a step in front of Junior and Roman so that she could lead the way into the restaurant. "Dinner will be wonderful, I guarantee it." Just like that, the playfulness was back in Summer's voice, and her eyes were bright with something indescribable. "I have the best taste, wouldn't you know?"  
  
"Not when it comes to salmon." Roman chuckled.  
  
Summer paused, and Junior was sure that he'd seen her shoot a glare in Roman's direction over that comment. "I'll have you know-" Summer started. Stopped. Inhaled. Looked at the door. "Shall we?"  
  
The entire exchange just left Junior wondering what sort of terrifying inside joke he'd just become a part of. Or was halfway unaware of. Surely someone would explain this to him eventually, but he decided to try to keep it from bothering. He took the lead now, pulling the door open and holding it for Summer and Roman.  
  
The two went inside, leaving Junior to step into the building behind them. When the door finally closed, Junior stepped into the restaurant itself, where Roman was already asking for a table for four. Junior became quickly aware of the fact that the reason for wanting a table for four was probably him. He was too big, too wide. And being muscular didn't help with that.  
  
They were probably going to get a booth, and he was going to have to take an entire side for himself.  
  
Great.  
  
That _definitely_ wasn't an uncomfortable feeling or anything.  
  
A voice in the back of Junior's mind reminded him that he didn't belong on this outing. It was alright. In the future, if Roman or Summer asked him about going out for dinner like this, he could just decline and go home with James. At least when he was home with James, he didn't have to question whether the prickliness or awkwardness was all because of his presence.  
  
They had to wait for a few minutes, and then they were spirited away to a booth. Roman slid in first, making himself comfortable next to the window. The man took his sunglasses off and set them down on the windowsill beside him. Summer slid in beside him, and Junior? Junior just took the other side of the booth, careful to position himself towards the centre so that he wasn't stuck looking directly at either Summer or Roman.  
  
It was awkward. But he preferred awkward to just weird.  
  
Summer flipped open her menu, and read it over. She hummed happily as she perused her options. If Junior let his eyes go over to what Roman was doing, he would have seen that Roman was looking over the vegetarian options on the menu, as few as they were.  
  
Junior picked up his menu and flipped it open, and god, he didn't even recognize the names of most of these dishes. Finding a 'build your own gyro' option, Junior figured that would have to do. For a moment he considered ordering two, and bringing one of them back home to James, who he was sure was already heading to bed at this point.  
  
No.  
  
James wouldn't eat it.  
  
Bringing him something to eat was pointless.  
  
Roman slid his menu into the center of the table and closed it, signaling that he had already decided what he wanted for that evening. Summer followed after,  stretching her fingers out with the motion.  
  
As for Junior?  
  
Junior looked between the menu and his phone, where he was typing out what he wanted just so that he could be sure that ordering smoothly would indeed happen that evening. The last thing that he needed to do was make himself look like the stuttering, awkward mess that he was. Roman and Summer were his new coworkers, or clients, or whatever they were.  
  
They deserved _nothing_ but the best he had to offer.  
  
Which wasn't very much, in all honesty.  
  
A waiter came by, and one by one, they each placed their orders. it was an easy process, and Junior even managed to make it through the whole thing without misspeaking or stumbling on his words once. However, as soon as the waiter and the menus were gone, the atmosphere at their table shifted almost completely.  
  
It was Roman who spoke first.  
  
"I want to lick him."  
  
" _Roman_!" Summer whisper-yelled at the man. " _That's_ lewd."  
  
"I do though." Roman half-whined the words, and then straightened up, seemingly realizing that he was among new company. His mouth gaped. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry-” He started, his eyes falling onto Junior. “I didn’t-”  
  
Junior swallowed, and looked between Roman and Summer, realizing that what he said here and now would either make or break this outing. Roman was uncomfortable.  
  
If Roman was uncomfortable, that meant something.

Something _big_.  
  
"I'm fine with it." _God, that sounded bad._ "You being..." _Shit_. "I mean..."  
  
"Say the word, big guy."  
  
"I didn't want to assume?"  
  
Roman's eyes softened, and for just a moment, Junior realized that whatever he’d said, he’d done it right. Roman’s mouth opened, and he mouthed a quiet ‘oh.’ Junior considered saying something, but decided against it.  
  
“Aww, he’s sweet.” Summer commented, smiling at Roman. “I like him.”  
  
“Yeah.” Roman said. He pulled his eyes away from Junior. “Me too.”  
  
"Uh... thank you?"  
  
"Nah." Roman leaned back in his seat, and for just a moment, Junior was sure that he saw Roman cross one leg over the other under the table, just based on the way that Roman have been sitting and shifted his position.  
  
Summer turned in her seat to face Roman, as though she’d been inspired by something. The two of them began talking about work, and what they had to do the next day, and for a while Junior was able to fade out of the scenario and into his own head, where he ran through workout routines and things that would have to be taken care of at the gym first thing when he came in the morning.  
  
The waiter returned, served them their dishes, and all of them ate, with Summer and Roman still chatting about their work. Junior would pipe up once in awhile to ask a question about their work but didn’t learn much about it.  
  
He didn’t have a good head for these things.  
  
And so it was at least some small relief when they finally got up to leave, paid their individual bills, and went back to Roman's car in relative quiet. Junior was careful, explaining the way to his and James' building and Roman happily following those instructions. When they pulled up in front, Junior looked up to the window that he knew belonged to his and James' apartment.  
  
The lights were off.  
  
So James was asleep.  
  
Junior frowned and got out of the car, and when he looked back a Roman, he smiled.  
  
"So I'll see you around?"  
  
"Yeah." Roman chuckled. "I think you'll see me sooner than you think. Take care, big guy."  
  
Roman pulled out of the parking space, and then he was gone, and Junior was left alone to enter the building, go up to his and James' apartment, and navigate the rest of the evening alone.


	8. Stutterstep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggs

When Junior rolled out of bed the next morning, the apartment was mostly silent. Carefully, he removed himself from his bed, stretched and left his bedroom in nothing more than his boxers, scratching at his beard along the way.

Junior stepped out of the bedroom, and he realized that the living room had been all but untouched since the time that he'd left the apartment the day before for work. That meant that the kitchen probably hadn't been disturbed either. He sighed and walked to the kitchen, careful to keep his footfalls quiet as he walked, and once he'd started taking down a small skillet so he could make something for breakfast that morning, he was careful not to make too much noise, just so that his housemate would be able to sleep.

Junior set it down on the burner, which he didn't turn on just yet. He flicked on the light over the oven, to find that this morning there were no notes from his mother, nothing to say that the apartment had even been inhabited since the day before. Junior went to the fridge and opened it, reached inside of it and removed a carton of eggs and a bottle of milk.

As he set everything down on the countertop, he heard the sound of James' bedroom door open. Heard the sound of James walking unevenly across their hardwood floors, and the sound of an occasional tap. Junior looked over his shoulder, to see that James was walking, albeit assisted by a cane that he knew the man liked to keep by his bed most nights.

Oh.

So it was going to be a rough day, then.

"Morning." James managed the word out, frowning the entire time. Junior heard the sound of James taking a seat in one of their chairs- probably the highest one since that was the one that required the least movement to be able to be used.

"Hey." Junior answered as he got a clean bowl out. "Want breakfast?"

"Not really hungry." James mumbled. "Water would be good though."

Junior nodded, knowing what it was code for. He set the bowl down and went to the sink, opened up the cupboard next to it and got down an empty glass. Junior began to run the water, holding part of his hand under the faucet until it all ran cold, then filled it. Before he went to deliver the water, he opened a small cupboard and removed a bottle that he knew contained James' painkillers.

He crossed the room, and set the bottle and the glass of water down next to James. James slowly uncapped the bottle, removed a pill, and put it into his mouth to swallow. Once the pill was gone, James lifted the glass of water and sipped it, washing it down. The motions were stiff, like there was something jamming the gears in a machine, or like he needed oiling at the joints.

When Junior saw James set the glass of water back down, that was his cue to go back to making breakfast. His sign that James was going to be ok. He stepped back into the tiny postage stamp of a kitchen that they had, opened the carton of eggs, and cracked six into the bowl. Junior got a fork, and began to beat the yolks and whites together.

"Anything you want to do at the gym today?" Junior asked, trying to create some sort of conversation between the two of them so that the atmosphere of the apartment didn't feel too weird or uncomfortable. He had a feeling that James was going to take the day as another office day, but he always liked to check if he got a chance to.

James sighed. "I'm not sure." He mumbled. "Probably just make some phone calls and try to catch up on those accounts for you."

Something about that statement left Junior biting back cruel words and clenching his jaw, and he didn't really know why. He turned his attention back to the bowl of egg, which he poured a little milk into before continuing to whisk the ingredients together. He set the bowl down and went back to the fridge, opening it up and looking for some shredded cheese. "Think you'll train anyone?" Junior finally managed to get some words out.

"Maybe." James sighed. "I want to work with Taiyang's guarding sometime."

Junior found the bag of cheese and stood back up and stepped out of the fridge, which he let close on its own behind him. He tore open the bag of cheese, removed half a handful, and sprinkled it into the egg and milk mixture, which he immediately went back to stirring with the fork.

“He’s the one you’re putting your weight behind for all of this then.” Junior commented as he reached over to the stovetop, clicking one of the burners on. He set the bowl down. “Why?"

“I think he’s the best chance of success for the gym.” James said, sounding like he was impossibly far away. “You put your money behind the best chance of success.”

“That didn’t answer my question, James.”

James sighed. He shifted in his seat slightly, and Junior saw that he’d moved the cane, telegraphing that he was probably going to get up. “I know.” James mumbled as he pushed himself up onto his feet “But I don’t know what you want me to say. He’s strong? He’s got a pretty face that you can sell? He knows his way around a ring?”

Junior winced. Sighed. "Yeah, you're right." He finally breathed out, resigned. He used the spatula to push the now-cooking eggs around in the skillet. "You really think he can win?"

"He's given me no reason to think he couldn't, Junior." James relaxed again, setting the cane back down next to him. "I'd also put my confidence in Raven if..."

"Right." Junior said. "Raven."

"Exactly." James mumbled, blinking the sleep away from his eyes. "How was your dinner with Torchwick and his friend?"

"Uh... It was nice. I think." Junior said, keeping his eyes glued to the cooking eggs in the pan in front of him.

“You… think.”

"We went out, got gyros. Talked a bit, but it was a lot of me sitting around while they talked about work." Junior set his spatula down and went to the small cabinet that contained the dishware to remove a pair of bowls. "I don't know if I'd go again."

James hummed. Shifted in his seat, creating a quiet creaking sound underneath his weight. "Do you think this guy can really help you?"

That was it.

That was million dollar question, wasn't it?

Junior took a long minute to think on it, moving the eggs into an empty bowl. He needed to be sure about his answer to this question, he needed to be sure about what the business needed. "I think he could, James." He finally said, getting a clean fork before bringing the bowl of eggs over to the table, where he set the bowl and fork down in front of James. "Maybe."

"You're going to call your mother, aren't you?" James’ eyes flicked over to the bowl of food, like he was considering having something to eat for the first time that morning.

"Probably." Junior re-stationed himself in front of the stove. "I'm just worried about what she'll say when I do."

"She'll probably just throw her weight behind you more than she usually does." James said, picking up his fork and stabbing into some of the eggs in the bowl. "She doesn't necessarily need the stress of this but... she's your mother. She loves you."

A sour taste filled Junior's mouth, and he grimaced for just a moment. He was glad that he wasn't facing James now. Was glad that James was deep in that bowl of eggs and not paying him any mind. He picked up the bowl that contained the egg mixture and began to pour what was left of it into the now empty skillet, letting everything cook through with no hesitation. "Do you think she'll be able to help us?"

"I don't know." James admitted. "I wouldn't be surprised if she had money set aside for something like this. You know Lin, she likes to be prepared."

And there was that sour taste again. "You're right." Junior managed to say, sighing the words out. "I'll talk to her and cross my fingers but I don't think we can afford to drop this Torchwick guy either. He does seem like he actually cares about the work that he does, and that's.... it makes me feel better about all of this, you know?"

"I know." James mumbled, setting his fork down in the bowl of eggs. "I hope this is the right decision, Junior. For your sake." Junior heard the sound of James' chair moving against the floor, and James getting up. He let his eyes flick over to see that James was standing up, relying on the cane less, and moving a bit more fluidly than he had been earlier that morning. "I'm going to go get ready for work. Enjoy your breakfast, Hei."

"Thanks, James."

And with that, Junior was left alone again. He stared down at the half-cooked eggs in the skillet in front of him, and used the spatula to move them around and help them cook a bit more evenly. He was going to have to get ready for the day sometime as well, not that he knew what his morning would look like at all besides the fact that there'd be things he'd have to take care of and clean up once he got to the gym.

The night before had been an exciting one for Xiong’s Fitness.

Not that he minded at all.

Cleaning up in the morning at least meant that people were coming in, and that was more than good enough for him right now.

His eggs finished cooking at around the same time that Junior heard the sound of the shower turning on. He poured them into a second bowl, and turned off the stovetop before taking a seat at the tiny table that made up the whole of his and James' dining furniture so that he could eat his own breakfast. Since he lived an active life, that made his breakfasts the most important thing that he did every morning.

If he skipped this, he'd hit a wall later in the day, and he definitely didn't want that.

Junior ate his breakfast, and took the time to check his emails and phone for whether anything was going on. There was an email from Torchwick, that looked like it had been sent at some stupidly early hour in the morning. Like it had been one of those things that he couldn't bear to forget about before he got a chance to ensure that it was recorded.

It was a request for Junior or James to head to Torchwick's office later on that day, though it didn't say why Roman wanted one of them to come by. Just that it was important that one of them come and talk to him about the tournament.

Junior blinked, rereading the message two or three times. Perhaps it was a sign that Roman had an idea for a mock-up for their advertisements? Or maybe he wanted to talk about how their financials looked? Junior didn't know, and so that left him a little afraid. Either he or James would have to go and talk to Roman, and find out exactly what the redhead wanted.

The question was who was the better choice to do that today, Junior supposed.

He tapped the reply button on the email, and quickly began to type out a response, simply asking Roman about what he wanted them to come over for. Surely, if it was something important, Roman would answer sooner than later. However, judging by the fact that Roman had emailed him at three in the morning, he had to wonder whether he was going to see a timely response.

With his email typed, Junior sent it off. Across the apartment, he heard the sound of the water being turned off again. He looked down into the untouched bowl of eggs in front of him and sighed, picking up his fork and beginning to finally eat his breakfast. He'd talk to James about what Roman wanted once he heard back from the other man.

Junior leaned back slightly in his seat, crossed one leg over the other, and ate through his breakfast, one piece of egg at a time. It wasn't his preferred breakfast by a longshot, but he needed something and eggs were filling, at the very least.

A minute or two later, James came back into the kitchen. The cane was gone now, and James was moving confidently. His black hair hadn't been groomed down yet, and there were hints of grey forming at James’ temples. James stepped into the kitchen for just a minute, turning on their coffee maker. Junior got up, set his phone down on the table, and left the kitchen. "I'll be in the shower."

"You want coffee when you're out?"

"You know what I like." Junior said, stepping out of the kitchen finally and going to his bedroom. He opened up his dresser- he was running low on socks. He'd have to do laundry soon, he realized.

Junior reached into the dresser, fishing out a pair of clean socks and underwear before setting them down on top of it. He pushed the dresser drawer closed, then opened up the one below it to grab a clean grey t-shirt and a pair of pants that he’d be able to work out in.

Satisfied with his choice of wear for the day, Junior picked up everything that he’d set aside and went for the door, which he opened and closed behind him before heading down the hall to the tiny bathroom that he and James shared.

The bathroom was as spotless as one could be for a home that held two bachelors. There was a small countertop, which held nothing more than two cups, one in blue and another in red, which held their individual toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste.

He set his pile of clothing down on the small countertop and crossed the room for the tiny closet that held all of their towels. He picked a clean one and a washcloth, then took the chance for a shower.

The water was still hot from James’ shower, and so Junior let himself relish in it. Let the heat melt away all of his pains from his workouts the day before. He took his time to get cleaned up, and when he stepped out of the shower, Junior simply toweled himself off before feeling his beard and oh, he’d have to get it trimmed sometime.

Junior frowned, but didn’t pay it much mind. He slipped into his clothing, and ran a comb through his hair, just enough to make sure that the black locks didn’t stick out in every direction. Once he was done, he hanged the towel up on towel rack, brushed his teeth, and left the bathroom.

When he got out the scent of soap mixed with the scent of a fresh hazelnut brew. Junior went to the kitchen, where he found James pouring a mug of coffee for himself- probably his second of the morning, if Junior’s predictions were correct at all.

James heard him, picked his head up, and looked over at him. “Coffee’s hot.” James announced. “We need to get cream the next time one of us goes to get groceries.” Junior watched James set the mug of coffee down, and elected to get another empty mug.

In one motion, James picked up the pot of coffee with his right hand. The metal of his hand shined under the flourescent lights, and Junior knew that James probably used that hand for this because it wouldn’t get bothered by the heat of the pot.

Something painful clutched in his chest at that realization every time he thought about it.

With the coffee poured, James held out the mug. Junior reached out, took it, and leaned back against the counter as James raised his own mug to his lips and sipped at the hot beverage. “We should be going soon.”

“We should be, yeah.” Junior said, opening up the fridge to find a carton of cream. He pulled it out, giving it a quick shake with his wrist. “Roman emailed me.”

“And?” James asked, leaning back against one of the counters now. “What does he need?”

Junior looked over at the table, to see that his phone was still sitting there, charging. He emptied the last of the cream into his coffee, and watched how the dark liquid lightened in shade. Satisfied, Junior threw the emptied carton away before going to the kitchen table and picked up his phone. “He didn’t say-” Junior said, letting his eyes fiick back over in James’ direction. “-I asked for some clarification, but I don’t know if he sent any.”

James nodded, seeming to understand the situation. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure it’s important.”

“He said he wanted one of us to come out to his office, so I’m guessing as much.” Junior said as he opened his email and damn, nothing new. “He hasn’t emailed me back.”

“He’s probably going to respond when he gets to the office.” James said between sips of his coffee. “It’s early.”

Junior set his phone back down. “That’s the thing. The guy emailed me at three in the morning.”

“Ah.” James replied. “That’s certainly out of the ordinary. Or maybe it’s completely normal for the guy. He seems like a night owl.”

“Well, whatever it is. Would you be able to go talk to him if whatever he needs is more in your area of expertise?”

“Sure.” James looked to the side, down at his hand. Blinked, then looked back at Junior. “I think one of your Team Xiong members wanted to work with you one on one anyways.”

“Which one?”

“Don’t remember. I was ready to drop when they mentioned it.” James didn’t look up at Junior. Instead, he stood there with his eyes glued to his mug of coffee.

Junior knew what it meant. It was James’ way of avoiding having to admit that he hadn’t been feeling well the night before. He wondered what else James hadn’t mentioned the night before

“Alright.” Junior said. “I’ll figure it out. Want to head out once coffee’s done?”

“Yeah.” James answered. “We need to clean up the gym anyways. There’s stuff all over the place that needs to be dealt with”

“Right.” Junior sucked down a gulp of his coffee. “Someone also needs to clean the showers today.”

Those words hung in the air between them, with neither wanting to step up and volunteer to do the job. Junior and James both stared into the depths of their respective coffees. Finally, one of them spoke.

“We could make Raven do it.” James mumbled. “Call it repayment for showing up late all the time.”

“...I’m good with that.”

“Me too.”

Junior drained the rest of his coffee, went to the sink, tossed his mug into it, and went back to his room so that he could pick up anything that he’d need during the day. He hesitated at the door and called back to James. “Should we order lunch today?”

“I figured we would.” James called back from his own bedroom, the obvious sign that he’d finished his own coffee. “How do subs sound?”

“Amazing.” Junior looked around his room, running through what he’d need that wasn’t already at the gym. Finding nothing immediate, he picked up his jacket and left the room. When he came back into the living room area, he saw that James was wearing his workout clothes as opposed to the usual sweater and slacks combination.

James turned around, a bottle of water in his hand. “Want me to get you one?”

“Please.” Junior said as he went to the door, slipping on his shoes. “We might actually make it out of the gym on time tonight, you know that?”

“Sounds like wishful thinking.” James set down the bottle, and went to get another empty one. Junior waited patiently as James got the second bottle and filled it. Once the second bottle was full, James joined him at the door, where the man carefully slipped into his shoes- taking extra time on his right foot before leaving the apartment.

Junior locked the door behind them. Together, James and Junior took the way down the stairs, James even taking the chance to half-run down, the clearest sign that he was probably actually having a good day so far.

Tracking James’ use of the cane wasn’t an exact science.

Junior matched pace, and soon the pair of them made it out to the car. Junior got into the driver’s side, with James joining him at the passenger’s seat. Almost as soon as the radio switched on, Junior turned it off, hearing the heavy bass of that annoying song he’d heard on the radio a few days before.

They backed out of the parking space, and began the drive to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
>  
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/)


	9. Tête-à-Tête

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orange and blue are complimentary colors so they say. Sometimes, they just clash.

Roman stumbled into his office half an hour late that morning. He didn't have a good reason for it, he'd just slept in and punched his snooze button eight times too many. When he arrived at the glass door of his and Summer’s shared office, Roman peered in and saw that nobody was there.

He wracked his brain, trying to decode this mystery through the haze of his sleep-addled mind. Was there a reason for the office to be empty? Was Summer sick? Did he come in on a holiday? When nothing came to mind as a possible explanation, Roman simply reached into his pocket, seeking his keys to the office and unlocked the frosted-glass door that kept him from his work.

Roman stepped inside, set his bag down on his desk, and sank down into computer chair. If he looked around the office, he would have realized that there wasn't any sign that anyone had been there the night before either, which was odd. Roman reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and read over his schedule for the day, to find that he definitely hadn’t come in on his day off.

In fact, the schedule presented no sign that he'd missed anything important that day, and that only left Roman feeling more confused. He turned in his seat, and stared across the office at Summer's desk, where he finally noticed that there had been a note left, stuck to her bulletin board where its pink paper stood out against the stark white of the other notes that were left there.

Curious, Roman stood up, walked over, and plucked the note from the board, noting that she'd written his name in extra bold letters in marker.  
  
As it turned out, this was one of the days where Summer had to work on location at the benefit- he wondered whether the salmon issue had been resolved yet or not. He was sure that it had been, but since the last he heard on it was Summer’s completely valid complaints, he wasn’t too confident in that.

With a sigh, Roman crumpled the note and tossed it into his and Summer's shared trash can before going back over to his desk. He sat down, opened up his bag, and began pulling out his laptop and supplies that would carry him through the day.  
  
Not that he was actually sure what that day would entail.

He opened the laptop and watched it boot to life. Stared at the screen as it displayed the remnants of his emails from the night before. He blinked, leaned forward, and went to the task tray on his computer to make sure that he'd in fact connected to the wifi here in the office. Glad to see that was done, Roman refreshed his emails.  
  
Shit, Junior had emailed him back.  
  
That was no big deal he supposed. He'd wanted to bring either Junior or James in to talk about the prospects of what their advertisements would look like. He clicked the email, seeing that it had been sent from Junior's phone- not that he'd needed to know that at all, and quickly answered the man's question as to what this particular meeting was going to be about.  
  
With the message sent off, Roman inundated himself with his work. He had a lot on his plate, aside from Xiong's. Tonight he had to be at The Platinum, since he'd helped them in organizing their newest specials for that night. He stared at the laptop and leaned back in his seat. Reached into his bag to remove his notebook, and began to draw up a list of everything that he needed to do today.

Meeting, after meeting, after meeting. It was going to be a long day, but at the least he'd managed to find a place to slot in his lunch break. Roman wondered for just a moment if he'd be able to run out to Xiong's and get a better idea of what their daytime operations looked like. Whether he'd be welcomed in or run away from the business because he didn't belong there during the days.  
  
He could gamble on it, he supposed.  
  
Realizing the problems with that logic, he squashed that thought back down before it could get out of hand and get him into any trouble.

Roman opened up an image editor on his computer, taking the chance to bring up the advertisements that he'd been working on for Xiong's. He could have hired a graphic designer to work on it, but Roman just preferred to do this sort of thing on his own.

He had liked the safety net that it provided him if there was something wrong with the advertisement. He didn't have to worry about breaking off business relationships, and Roman could just do whatever he had in mind instead of having to coach someone else through what he wanted.  
  
And oh, how he hated having to explain detail by detail what he needed. Most of the time people didn’t know how to listen.

The ad wasn't simple. There were a lot of layers, with one left empty at the base that would inevitably hold a photo of one of the fighter's from Xiong's. Roman didn't know when that picture would be captured- next week maybe, but he liked the ad so far. Roman stared at the mockup, and realized that he needed to come up with some sort of placeholder image so that when he showed what he did have, it wasn't completely awkward.  
  
Roman opened up his image folders, and was clicking from picture to picture in an attempt to find something that could stand in for boxers until he had what he actually needed for it. The sound of the quiet jingle of a bell that always sounded when the door opened made Roman look up from his work, to see that James had just stepped in- how long ago had he emailed Xiong back?  
  
Roman sat up properly and turned in his seat. "James." He smiled. "I wasn't expecting to hear from your or Junior until later."  
  
"Terribly sorry," James mumbled, stepping in. "May I-"

"Take a seat?" Roman asked, tilting his head slightly and still smiling. "Of course. Just... take Summer's seat."  
  
"Of course." James said, turning the spare seat around and stiffly sliding down into it. "Is there a reason you wanted-"  
  
"You know it." Roman cut James off, which he noticed earned a cock of James' eyebrow. "I've been mocking up posters for the gym and I wanted to talk to one of you about that."  
  
James blinked. "Oh." Hesitated. "Is there anything in particular-"  
  
Roman looked over at the computer, and turned, clicking on a random photo of some girls that had been dancing at a club that he'd helped a year back or so. "This is is what I have, James. I know you might not be the best judge of all of this but-"

"It's... eye catching." James said, reading it over carefully. "You think it'd work?"  
  
"I think it'd do more than what you have right now." Roman answered. "The colors are bright, text is clear, and when I have photos of your fighters, it'll be ready for print."  
  
James was silent, examining the mock-up. Roman watched him, wondering where the hesitation was coming from before James finally spoke up. "I want to say that it's good but I need to know, for the sake of Junior's finances-"  
  
"Who's paying?" Roman leaned back in his seat, and crossed one leg over the other with the motion. "That's always a good question, always important to know. In this case, I'll be paying, and when I'm paid back with whatever is made for your gym in royalties, that's when the account will be considered cleared."  
  
"How long does he have to pay you royalties?"  
  
Roman realized then that there was something distinctly off about how James talked about the business. LIke he was afraid to associate himself too closely with it. Which seemed strange considering how involved with it James seemed to be.

"As long as there's an outstanding balance." Roman finally answered, after a moment of some hesitation. "Though I’ll have to take a certain percentage of the royalties as a commission fee. You have to understand, I can't make money if everything is done on royalties alone."  
  
"Of course." James sighed. Hesitated. "I should talk to Hei about this-"  
  
"He sent you, didn't he?" Roman asked, noting the way that the words had almost made James flinch in his seat. "I think he trusts you with his business. Let him trust you."  
  
"I don't feel comfortable making an important decision behind Junior's back." James clarified. "It's his family's business, I don't feel right meddling in it."  
  
Roman frowned, then quickly forced himself to banish the expression when he realized that he probably wasn't making himself look to good in James' eyes. So the guy was a bit on the difficult side, that wasn't something that Roman was beyond being able to deal with.

He just tilted back in his seat, and crossed one leg over the other. Thought hard for a moment about what he should do to win James' trust, since he had a feeling that he wasn't going to get Junior one hundred on board with his plans unless James was also on board.  
  
"That's fair." Roman finally said after a long moment. "Though I should let you know, I don't know exactly when these posters will be finished. All I know is this is what I have, and you and Junior can either take it or leave it."  
  
James shifted in his seat, seemingly well aware of the fact that this time around, he didn't have his typical safety nets to fall back on. This wasn't Junior's office, and so Roman had James sitting distinctly outside of his comfort zone.

The ‘take it or leave it’ wasn't a tactic that Roman usually liked using, but sometimes it was just the best way for him to get what he needed out of a client. Especially when they were difficult ones that seemed to dislike him on sight for no clear reason.  
  
"As I said, Mister Torchwick." James leaned forward, making sure to lock his and Roman's eye contact the entire time. "I'm not comfortable making all the important business decisions without Hei's council. It's his family's business, not mine. I help him, I try to keep his finances in check, and I make sure his clients pay their dues every month. Everything else falls on him."  
  
"Very well." Roman frowned, offered James his hand. "I'll get in contact with your brother-"  
  
"What?"  
  
And that was very strange, Roman realized. There was definitely something weird going on, and he wasn’t really sure how deeply entrenched he wanted to get into it. "That's what he said." Roman answered, careful to keep his tone as even as he possibly could. "He said you were brothers."  
  
James froze.  
  
Checkmate.  
  
"Junior..." James hesitated, looked away from Roman. He almost looked like an animal that was slowly being backed into a corner. "Junior's family was good to me, that's all. We aren't brothers." Another hesitation. "Not quite." James stood up, checking his pockets- probably looking for his keys, Roman realized. Finding them, James got up and turned, heading to the door.  
  
Oh.

Now that wouldn't do.  
  
"You probably don't want to go back to Junior to tell him that you walked out on me, James." Roman said, uncrossing his legs and sitting up properly now. "Look, I'll contact him. But walking out now is a very bad idea."  
  
James stopped, his mysteriously gloved right hand on the doorknob. Roman wondered for a moment whether the man was going to lash out at him physically, but decided that there wasn't a physical threat. James wasn’t holding himself that way.

Roman looked at the computer, reached up, and hit the button to start the printer and print off a copy of the mock-up poster.  
  
The sound of the printer clicking to life made James relax a little and look back at Roman, who stood up, and crossed the office to find the printer that he and Summer shared. In it's tray, there were a couple of silly pictures that the two of them liked to print off before and after the other came and went for work. The poster mockup was ejected into the printer tray, in full color on a glossy paper.  
  
Roman picked it up. "Sit down, I'll need a minute, James." To no surprise at all, James didn’t move from where he was standing. Roman sat down at his desk, grabbed a pen, and began to make notes on the sheet on what may need changing, with the most obvious being a bolded message that said nothing more than 'placeholder' in the corner where the photograph was.

He took his sweet time as he pulled his pen away and retrieved a folder, which he stored the picture in before scribbling out a note to Junior on a slip of paper which he stored inside of the folder before holding the packet out in James' direction.  
  
James sighed, turned, reached out and took the folder, which he pulled away from Roman as he was met with no resistance. Roman smirked, looked at the door, then to James.  
  
"I suppose that means it's your time to go." Roman offered, able to see someone approaching through the frosted glass of the door. Of course, he had other meetings at day. "Actually, my ten o’clock has just arrived."  
  
"I'll see you Thursday." James grumbled, leaving Roman behind alone in the office, where Roman quickly got his assets in order for his next meeting. Luckily for him, this one would be a bit easier, since he didn't have to deal with someone who was going to push back on giving approval for anything.  
  
Though he supposed James wasn't wrong about his point of view.  
  
Roman almost felt bad for pinning the guy in verbally.  
  
Almost.  
  
The door opened, and a thin man stepped in, carrying a portfolio, and Roman turned his mind to a different job, focusing instead on bringing a cabaret night to one of the nightclubs. He let the rest of his day become a string of meetings that he didn't have the greatest amount of interest in.  
  
When it was finally time for him to leave for the day, Roman packed up his things one by one before leaving the office and locking the door behind him. He hated days like these ones, but they were necessary. He wondered for a moment whether he could justify going by the gym to see what Junior thought of the ad that he'd made.  
  
However, he got the feeling that if he went in now, he'd earn nothing but death stares from James, assuming the guy was out of his office or able to look around the area around him while he focused on some boxers.  
  
No.  
  
Going to visit Xiong's was a bad idea. He was going to have to talk to Junior sooner than later- everything that he wanted to accomplish by going to the gym that day could just as easily be achieved through an email.  
  
Which was a pity, really, since it meant that Roman couldn't justifiably go into the gym for the sake of ogling the boxers that were bound to be there.  
  
Roman banished thoughts of it from his head and drove home instead. He had to be at a nightclub in a few hours anyways, it probably wasn't the best idea to go wasting his time and energy on Xiong's Fitness when he would be better off making sure that his eyebrows looked perfect for that evening.  
  
When Roman sank down into his car, he sighed and looked around him. Everything seemed to be in order, which meant that it was good for him to go home, but that wasn't enough to make him shake the feeling that there was still more that he could do that evening. More that he could do to improve his business.  
  
Sometimes he wondered whether he was a workaholic or not.  
  
No, Roman told himself. Workaholics didn't have social lives, and his was more than active.  
  
Roman was just an overachiever, that was all.  
  
He started the drive home, and for the first time in a while, he drove home with the music off. He wanted to be alone with his own thoughts for a bit. There was nothing wrong with wanting to do that. Roman was a well-adjusted adult, after all. He could do anything he wanted to if he put his mind to it.  
  
Roman got home to his empty apartment. He saw that everything was perfectly in order, aside from an open sketchbook that was sitting on his glass coffee table, as undisturbed as it had been before he'd gone to bed the night before.  
  
He wished someone else was there so that he could share this with someone instead of feeling like he was all alone.  
  
It was fine.  
  
He could just get Summer to go to breakfast with him in the morning.  
  
Roman let his eyes slip closed for just a moment, and then he realized that he had to start getting ready to go out for the night sooner than later.  
  
Right.  
  
Absolutely wonderful.  
  
With a groan, Roman pushed himself up to his feet and walked to the bathroom so that he could get ready for a long night ahead of him, and probably an even longer morning before he had to rinse and repeat and run through the same ritual the night after.  
  
Great.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/)


	10. Glass and Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass Jaw- noun
>
>> In combat sports such as boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, a fighter's chin is a figurative term that refers to an ability to tolerate physical trauma to the chin without being knocked unconscious.

Junior held the heavy foam pad in front of his chest, protecting himself from a barrage of blows. He would occasionally sidestep or change his stance to force his partner to adjust accordingly. He didn't like running practices from behind the pad, but he was too tall to really train his boxers any other way most of the time.

On the other side, occasionally he'd see a bob of yellow hair as his opponent moved in and out of sight and range. The front door opened, and Junior let himself drop the pad to signal to the fighter that he needed a break. Junior flashed the blonde a soft smile and spoke up. "Take a breather, Tai." He instructed. The smaller man backed off, still bouncing from foot to foot as though he didn't want to lose the momentum of his practice.

James stepped into the gym, and Junior raised a hand to him in a half-wave, which he got back with a folder. He figured that meant that he and James were going to have things to talk about later on that day, but that wasn't such a big deal. He had things to do, anyways.

Junior turned back to Taiyang, realizing that James was going for the office and picked the pad back up. "How are you feeling?" He asked, looking Taiyang in the eye. "I need to know."

"Like I can win?" Taiyang said, tilting his head and shrugging with the motion.

Ok, so that wasn't the  _ best _ answer that Junior could have expected to gotten from the guy, but it was something at least.

"Alright." Junior sighed out after a moment. With one hand, he picked up the heavy pad- something that would have taken two hands for most people, and lifted it in front of him, holding it in place and letting one hand slide back behind him. "I want you to hit the pad as hard as you can, and as fast as you can."

Taiyang slid into a fighting stance, bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet and raised his fists in front of him to signal his readiness. "Why do you have me working on speed so much?" Taiyang asked. "The strength stuff I get but-"

"Because to be worth a damn in the ring you need to be fast, Tai." Junior answered. "Go." It was an order, which Taiyang quickly followed up on, stepping into his first punch, then throwing a second. "I know you've never gone for your golden gloves before."

"Yeah, I haven't." Taiyang said, stepping to the left to match pace with Junior's own motions. "But I think that I can win-"

Behind the pad, Junior smirked, pushing out on the bottom of the pad to tag Taiyang in the side. "I think you need to be more aware of what's going on." Junior said, as he stood back upright. "Reset."

The blonde’s brow furrowed and he half pouted as he rubbed at his side with a gloved hand. "Right." Taiyang stepped back, heading towards the corner of the ring and bouncing back and forth from leg to leg once again. "So if I go for my gloves-"

"Yes?"

"-And I win-"

"Yes?"

"Does that make me a champion?"

That was an interesting question, and Junior quickly realized that he might not actually have a good way to answer it. Technically, yes, winning the gloves would be enough to make Taiyang a champion.

But would he be ready for people challenging him?

Would he be ready to defend his title?

"Yes and no." Junior finally answered. "It's a step in the right direction. You'll have to win many more battles than make your way to the top at a tournament, Taiyang."

Taiyang nodded, seeming to understand. "I'm ready." He announced. Junior nodded.

"I'm going to be offensive this time, Tai, be ready for that."

"I can do it." Taiyang grinned into the words, and then the two set to motion. Junior decided to make it a chase for Taiyang, careful to keep himself and the foam pad mobile.

Taiyang bounced around him, jabbing at the top of the pad where in all likelihood his opponent's head would be. Junior let the pad take a hit before dipping back out of range, forcing Taiyang to get close to him.

The blonde stepped into range again, only to take a hit to the ribs from the pad. Taiyang frowned and stepped back, realizing that maybe there was something that he was doing horribly wrong. "Ok." Taiyang said, looking at the corner of the ring. "How about this- you put on some gloves, and we'll try and do this that way." His voice sounded like he was deeply determined to win in this spar, but Junior didn’t know whether or not Taiyang actually could win. 

"You sure?" Junior asked, letting the pad down. "You  _ know  _ you don't have the reach to fight me that effectively."

Taiyang pouted, realizing that Junior was right. "Well..." Taiyang started. "Is there anyone else that I might be a bit more evenly matched against?"

Junior paused and thought about it for a moment, before looking to the office door and realizing that James might actually be up for it. He’d been moving well that morning, he’d even left the apartment with his gym bag instead of just a pile of paperwork. James also had looked frustrated when he’d come back in from the meeting with Roman.  

Having made his decision, Junior sighed. "Give me a moment and I can check."

Taiyang snapped Junior a quick salute and climbed up onto the turnstile that supported the ropes while Junior climbed out of the ring, stepping down the few feet before going to the office door. Junior waited just outside the door, for just a minute, then finally he knocked. 

He raised his voice, to make sure he was noticed. "James." He called through the door. "Want to help train Taiyang?'

The door opened, and James looked up at Junior. "What?" He looked very confused, and Junior couldn’t help but wonder as to why James would be confused by the offer.

"Do you want to work with him? He needs someone that he can reach."

James looked away, back into the office, then at Junior and nodded. "Sure."

"Thank you."

The door closed behind James, and inside, Junior could hear the man moving around- probably trying to find his gloves and make sure that he was truly ready for a workout.

The door reopened, and James shouldered past Junior before he crossed the room, climbing up into the arena quite easily. Junior worried for a moment, but quickly banished his concerns when he realized that James was moving quite well today.

Though his body was probably going to punish him for this later on.

Taiyang looked James up and down, watching as James put on a pair of gloves and stretched, mostly focusing on his left, though he'd move his right as well, despite the fact that it wouldn't do anything to stretch it.

Junior climbed into the ring, ready to take a role as a referee for the time being. He looked between James, who went to the blue corner once he was ready, and then to Taiyang. "Speed and blocking Tai." His eyes went to James. "Take it easy."

"I'll be easy on him, Junior, you know me."

"I mean it, James."

James grit his teeth and shot Junior a glare before he nodded, raised his arms,  and held his fists close to his chest. James’ left fist was held a little bit higher than the right, something that Junior had seen a thousand times since he was young. 

Across the ring, Taiyang fell into his own stance, though it was looser, arms closer to his waist and the blonde bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Junior stood against the ropes. “Center.” He ordered. James and Junior both stepped up to the center of the ring. James offered his gloves into the center, and Taiyang signaled his readiness by bumping against them with his own gloves. Satisfied, Junior nodded and the two of them stepped back into their corners. 

The room was silent for just a moment. Then Junior spoke. 

“ _ Go. _ ”

Taiyang took the first step forward, and James sidestepped away from the ropes as his counter. Another bounce forward, another counter. Slowly, the two drew in on each other and Taiyang threw the first punch.

Taiyang grinned, and Junior watched as James shifted back, raising his hands into the direction of where Taiyang's hand was going. He pushed the blow away, before retaliating at the blonde with a quick jab to the stomach.

The two separated from each other, and then moved back in, this time James on the offensive. Taiyang raised his fists, the way that he'd been getting training from James to do, and James stepped in and out of Taiyang's range, trying to bait an attack from the blond.

In one motion, Taiyang stepped forward, and right into James’ left fist, which came his way in a fast jab.

“Break.” Junior shouted, and immediately both James and Taiyang stepped away, to their separate corners. Taiyang rubbed at his face with the back of his glove, while James eased his way back into the corner, seemingly testing his right leg for mobility. Junior made a note to keep an eye on that, since that was going to be a big issue later on in the night.

Junior turned to Taiyang. "You need to work harder at getting people into the corner." He instructed, looking over at James for just a moment. "You aren't going to win unless you can corner your opponent." His eyes slid over to James. "You're fighting as a southpaw." He stated it matter-of-factly, and saw the way James rolled his eyes.

"I am."

"Don't."

"He can't take it if I don't." James said, rolling his right shoulder and trying to get himself used to whatever he had to do. "It's better I go left handed than nothing."

"Fair." Junior said, before looking back over Taiyang. "Try again, keep mobile, box him in. I want to see him  _ sweating  _ this round, you understand?"

Taiyang nodded. Junior stepped up to Taiyang, and reached out to gently grip the blonde’s head. He stepped close to Taiyang and gently tilted Taiyang’s head back so that he could get a good look in his eyes. Seeing that nothing looked wrong, Junior released him and patted Taiyang on the shoulder before stepping back away.

He looked over to James. “You good?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Junior said, voice clear as ever. “You’re stopping as soon as you’re in pain.”

"Of course."

Junior wondered whether James was lying to him or not with those words. He pushed the feeling back, looked between James and Taiyang, and pushed himself back against the ropes so that he could stay well out of the way of danger. "Keep it clean, both of you." He got some weak grumbles as confirmation, then spoke up. "Go."

It was as though the world had unfrozen. James and Taiyang both left their corners, circling in and out towards each other. James was keeping his guard low this time, while Taiyang was trying to get in and out so that he could at least deliver quick attacks to James' sides. Junior heard two or three of the tags connect, realizing that James was purposely keeping his right side away from Taiyang.

Finally, James retaliated, trying to throw a hit at Taiyang's head, only to be blocked.

Junior watched James throw the follow up punch, heading to Taiyang's shoulder probably, and Taiyang weaved out of the way, and retaliated before James had gotten his footing back.

Junior didn't call it, or send them back to their corners, seeing that this was the first time that Taiyang seemed to have built any real momentum. Taiyang worked James into a corner, just as Junior had instructed. Junior wondered if James was holding back, or whether James was letting the man have the win. Whatever it was, it was good for Taiyang. It was good for Taiyang’s confidence.

Finally, James was cornered in. He brought his guard up progressively to protect his head and jaw. Taiyang put two blows into James' torso, and once James tried to move his guard lower, that was it. Taiyang sent an uppercut into James' jaw. All at once, James' body sagged against the ropes, and Taiyang pulled off.

_ Shit. _

Junior stepped up to James' side, gently touching James' shoulder before looking back at Taiyang. "Nicely done." He murmured as he wrapped an arm around James’ waist and lowered James down to the ground. "You know, a move like that will win you most matches."

"Yeah?" Taiyang stood by, watching nervously as Junior went about his quick check up on James. "Is he going to be-"

"He should be." Junior said, feeling James stir slightly under his touch. "He’s always had a weak chin. There's a reason that he doesn't fight anymore."

Taiyang nodded. Junior let himself look back at Taiyang and then to the office. "Go get him some water, you've done well for the night."

"Got it." Taiyang left the room, which meant that Junior was alone to check in on James. He reached out, and gently tilted James' head up so that he could get eye contact. James' eyes were unfocused, which was worrying. "James, you there?"

"Yeah." James said, his voice hoarse. "Just..."

"I know." Junior reached out and wrapped an arm around James, carefully lifting the other man up and walking him to the office where he'd be able to at least sit down and relax. At least until his head was cleared again. They reached the office, and Junior immediately got James settled. Taiyang was already in the office, with the bottle of water.

The bottle found its way onto James' desk. Taiyang leaned against the wall, watching James with worried eyes. Realizing that Taiyang was there, James turned his head to face Taiyang. "I'll be ok."

"Thank you." Taiyang said, his voice tight as ever. "I needed that."

"I know."

Junior seated himself at his usual chair, reaching out to James and beginning to pull of James' gloves and the hand wrappings that protected his hands. He took extra time on James' right hand, careful to make sure that nothing caught on the metal there. Finally, he set the gloves aside and looked across at James, who was looking up at the light on the ceiling.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, looking at the things on the desk and thinking about whether there was any business that needed to be taken care of. He saw the folder that James had come home with, and considered opening it, but decided against doing so. James' eyes flicked shut, and Junior looked up at Taiyang, who still looked like he was visibly worried.

"You did well, Tai." Junior murmured. "These things happen. You just have to be ready for them when they do."

James spoke up now, though the words felt a little too slow. "It's a job hazard." James exhaled slowly. "This is why I typically only train. Aside from-" James raised his right arm and let it drop back down to the table, where it landed with an audible  _ clunk _ . "You did well, Tai. I just hope you can do it again in a tournament. And not to me."

Taiyang blinked twice and took one of the seats in the room, quiet. Junior looked between the two of them, then stood up. "Tai, if he gets sick, yell. You know what a concussion looks like?"

"Yeah." Taiyang said. "I think so."

"Good. If something happens, get me." Junior went to the door, opening it as quietly as he could before stepping out into the other room. "I have things to do."

Slowly, Junior closed the door behind him before turning to the main room. It was a bit of a mess, and it was probably about time to make sure that the canvas of the ring was washed. Junior shook his head and began to do his rounds of the room, picking up everything and anything that belonged to the gym that needed washing.

Junior picked up a towel and slung it over his forearm, before following it up with two or more towels. He did his best to avoid the smell that was coming off of the fabric. It wasn't a pleasant one, but it was important that someone go out of the way to make sure everything was clean.

It made the gym look good, though Junior supposed that wasn't really saying much these days. It didn't mean much to know that they looked good because there weren't towels everywhere, but the fact remained that they were still hurting, and probably would be for at least a short while.

Goddamnit, how had they gotten into this mess?

Junior let himself look over at the trophy case by the door before immediately peeling his eyes away from it when something awful clenched in his chest and refused to let him go. Instead, he crouched down to pick up an empty plastic bottle of water, which he walked over to the trash can on the way to the laundry machines in the back of the building.

The laundry room was behind a closed door next to the shower room, and only James and Junior really had any true access to it. Junior reached into his pocket with his free hand, found the keys to the gym and flipped through them until he found the worn copper one that had been painted blue around the grip to signify its use.

He unlocked the door and stepped into the laundry room, which was dirty and always smelled of mildew, no matter how hard they tried to get the smell out. Junior's nose wrinkled, but he did his best to ignore the foul scent, going straight to the washing machine and opening it up before tossing the pile of towels that he'd collected inside to be washed.

With both of his hands free now, Junior got a scoop of a dry detergent so strong that it burned his nostrils and made it hard to breathe, added it to the washing machine, and started it, leaving once he saw that the machine was filling with water as it was supposed to be.

He went back to the office, not sure what he was hoping to find.

Inside, things were mostly as they'd been left, though now James was holding an ice pack to his jaw where Taiyang had hit him, while Taiyang was telling some story about the one time he'd tried going rock climbing and it had gone beyond poorly.

So they were trying to distract themselves. That was good.

The two of them both looked up at Junior when he came in. Junior looked between the two of them and sighed. He didn't know what he was supposed to say to them, or what he was supposed to do, just that he was tired and it was probably for the best that he brought James home sooner than later.

It was silent, then James spoke up, probably having picked up on Junior's discomforts in that moment. "Hey, it's getting late." James suggested, not looking up at the clock to see that it was only about seven in the evening. "Maybe it's for the best if we call it for a night, and we get back to work tomorrow morning."

Taiyang blinked, looked up at the clock, and before he was able to say something, Junior spoke up. "James is right." He said, looking at Taiyang pointedly. "It's probably for the best if we pack up and come back in the morning, give everyone a chance to recover."

It was then it dawned on Taiyang what was being said. The man's eyes widened for just a moment, then he looked between James and Junior, as though he was going to get a confirmation that what he was thinking was correct. Junior watched Taiyang out of the corner of his eye, watched as Taiyang squirmed in his seat a bit, like he was deeply uncomfortable, his brow furrowed, and he reached up to brush his mop of blonde hair out of his face.

Finally, Taiyang spoke up. "Yeah, I think I was feeling kind of tired anyways."

"That settles it then." James said, pushing himself up to his feet with some difficulty before beginning to move things around on the desk in an attempt to clean it up so that the next time that anyone was in the office to do work they would be able to find whatever they needed instead of everything being strewn around the building.

Junior looked at Taiyang. "Are you going to hit the showers here?"

"Nah." Taiyang said, dropping his arm back down to the side next to him. "I was gonna drive home and shower once I got there. I don't have any stuff for showering here anyways."

"Alright." Junior said, beginning to pack up his own things so that he wouldn't have too much to worry about in the morning. He was going to run his own laundry sometime soon, but he was sure that he could go another day before it became absolutely critical that it was done.

He looked over at the desk, where James' hand had hovered over that manila folder that he'd brought in from his meeting at Torchwick's office earlier that day. Junior frowned, realizing that he still hadn't gone ahead and looked at whatever it was. He was sure that if James wanted to talk about it, they'd talk about it first thing in the morning when the two of them came in to work.

"Hey, so I think I'm gonna go." Taiyang said from his spot in the room. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yeah." James mumbled, dropping some pens down into the cup that usually held them. "We'll see."

"Bye Tai."

"Thanks Junior. I’m sorry, James, really-"

“Don’t worry about it.” James mumbled, quiet.

Taiyang smiled widely, raised a hand, and saluted them sloppily before leaving the room and leaving James and Junior to their own devices.

Junior went to the coat rack, pulled down his jacket and draped it over his arm since it was a bit too warm to wear it now. He reached into the pocket, looking for the keys to the car, but didn’t find them. He looked across the room at James, who was storing his ice pack back away in the fridge. "Jim?"

James looked up, closed the fridge door and stood back up, albeit stiffly. "Yeah?"

"Do you-"

James' eyes widened in the realization of what Junior was asking him. "Yeah, I do. They're in my jacket."

"Thanks." Junior reached out, finding James' jacket and checked the pockets until he found the car keys. By the time that was done, James was turning the computer monitor off and stepping around the desk, ready to leave the office finally.

Together, the two of them left the building, with Junior stopping at the laundry machine for just a moment to make sure that it was working alright. He was going to have to come back later to make sure that everything made it into the dryer before it could start to smell bad.

That wasn't such a big deal. Right now, he just really wanted to go home and rest. On the way out the door, Junior paused for an extra moment. He looked over at James, nodding to the other man to tell James that he'd meet him in the car in just a moment.

James nodded back, letting the door close behind him. Now alone, Junior looked forward at the trophy case, at the photos of himself with his father and James, and the family photos from when his father had first bought the gym when he was a boy.

Something evil clutched him in the chest. Junior leaned forward, and bowed his head for just a moment, bracing himself against the trophy case. 

"I'm gonna fix this, dad." He whispered. "I promise."


	11. City Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank the heavens for 24 hour grocery stores. Who goes grocery shopping at 4 am?

The bass was still ringing in Roman's head when he arrived home at around three in the morning after leaving the nightclub. He didn't really know how he felt at that moment. He'd had a fun night, but his feet hurt from dancing and he felt like he was ready to  _ drop _ .

And yet, he was wired with energy.

Tonight, he'd spent his evening at a place called The Rabid Rabbit, which was one of the smaller bars in the city, and not exactly one of the best ones.  But when they brought out the dance floor, it was always a fun time. He'd helped picked out a new drink menu for them with the help of a nice bartender a few weeks before and had promised to drop in and see how well the business was doing with the new menu.

As it turned out, business was booming, and the flooded dance floor stood as the obvious sign that he'd done his job well. He was more than happy with the results, and he was sure that he'd get a favorable testimonial from the owners that he'd be able to show off to new clients sometime.

Roman stopped at the door to his apartment, leaned down so that he could slip off his shoes and groaned, stretching his toes and trying to make himself more comfortable before padding across the foyer to his apartment and heading further in, making a beeline for his bedroom where he was sure that he was going to just drop straight into bed.

His bed sat against the wall, the single most welcoming thing that Roman had ever seen in his life. Roman groaned, outstretched his legs, and half-spun until he landed on the bed and bounced lightly upon his landing. Once he hit the bed again and didn't bounce up any further, Roman snuggled into the blankets, finally feeling like he was able to relax.

Goodness, was he tired.

He reached up to his hair with an empty hand, pushing the now limp red locks out of his face and smiling softly as he let his eyes drift shut for just a moment. Mentally, Roman reminded himself that he had to get up, he had to go and clean himself off unless he wanted to wake up to his skin breaking out and taking revenge on him for having such a long night.

But he  _ really  _ didn't want to get up. However, since there was nothing there to keep him there in the bed, Roman forced himself up onto his feet, which still ached with every step before dragging himself into his bathroom, where his makeup that he'd used was still sitting out, like it was just waiting for him to put it on and head out for another night on the town.

Roman stopped at the closet on the way in, opened it up and found a clean washcloth. Satisfied, he went straight to the sink and immediately turned on the faucet before shoving his hand underneath it to see feel when it got warm enough that he'd feel comfortable washing his face with it.

He waited until it was almost unbearably hot, then shoved the washcloth under the running water, which he turned off once the cloth was drenched. Roman set the cloth down in the sink, then opened up the small packet of makeup removing wipes. He removed one wipe and brought it to his face, beginning to wipe away the makeup from the day.

Roman started at his cheeks, massaging the wipe in small circles and watching in the mirror as his skin began to grow red from the friction and small, cinnamon colored freckles began to reveal themselves across his cheeks and nose.

Next, he wiped away his eye makeup, the black sliding away and staining the wipe before it was tossed away for disposal. Roman stared at himself in the mirror for a long moment, realizing that he didn't really feel like himself now. No, he felt more like he was looking at someone else in the mirror, and that wasn't a comfortable feeling.

But this was his face, and in the day, he would put on his proper, made up, freckle-less face and head out for the day looking as though nothing had been able to bother him over the course of his entire life.

An illusion at best, sadly.

Roman reached into the sink, picked up the warm washcloth and used it to go back over his face and wash away anything that was still left on him. Once he was satisfied, Roman sighed, and began putting everything away, storing his makeup away in small bags and hanging his dirty washcloth on the side of his shower stall.

On the way out of the bathroom, Roman paused for a moment, wondering whether he should shower now and risk having terrible hair in the morning, or whether it was better for him to wash up in the morning when it was time for him to get up.

Deciding that he didn't want to deal with terrible hair, Roman flicked off the bathroom light and stepped back into the bedroom, stripping out of his clothes on the way before dropping into his bed, almost completely nude.  With a slow exhale, Roman let his eyes slip shut again.

Sleep should have come easily to him, it shouldn't have evaded him, and yet it did. 

Roman didn't know what it was, but as the haze of alcohol left his mind, Roman realized that he probably was very,  _ very _ hungry. He frowned. There were a lot of things that he really didn't want to do. On the top of that list of things, making dinner was there, along with breaking his diet. But he was hungry, and he had the feeling that he wasn’t going to have a chance to eat come morning.

Roman turned onto his back and let his eyes open. He stared up at the ceiling above him and let out a heavy sigh. He could have gotten up, he thought, and ordered a pizza, or he could get up and go out and get something to eat that would be terrible for him.

Now that he thought about it more, Roman realized that pretty much anything that he could eat without making himself feel terrible wasn't available at this hour in the morning. But he really,  _ really  _ didn't want to make anything to eat. Not when he always ended up with the fire alarm going off.

Roman pushed himself upright, pushed his hair back out of his face, and let himself look out the window.

Usually, when he was home, he would look out the window and see the cars moving in the distance, and the glow of lights from people's bedrooms would illuminate the night. But now when he looked out, the dark outlines of buildings stood against a slightly lighter sky. The only lights were streetlights and the small red ones that were put atop towers to make sure that nothing ran into them.

He didn't like it. The city was too peaceful. He liked seeing things feeling like they were alive, not dead or asleep.

But despite the quiet, it was still beautiful.

He watched the sky, and made a decision. Roman stood up, went to his dresser and pulled on a pair of black sweatpants that looked nice enough to go in and a white t-shirt. He stumbled through his room, found his pants from the night before and removed his wallet and his phone from them, along with his keys.

Roman crossed back through the apartment silently, slipped into a pair of boat shoes that he kept around for the summertime and for nights like these where he didn't feel like putting the effort in to do much of anything, and left his apartment. He took a moment at the door to make sure it was locked before beginning his walk out of the building, going as quietly as he possibly could so that he didn’t wake his neighbors.

Roman got outside and went to his car, which he unlocked manually since it was quieter. He slid into his seat, put the keys into the ignition, and left the parking lot. He didn't know where he was going to go, just that he wanted to get something to eat. He figured that he could stop for fast food, or try to get Chinese food or something, but he had a feeling that he was only going to end up regretting whatever he got if he did that.

He figured that he could go to the riverside and watch the sunrise if he stayed out long enough, not that Roman really wanted to do that. He frowned, but was slightly relieved to see a grocery store that was still open. It wasn't the best option for food, but it was good enough, Roman thought. At the very least there would probably be some sort of pre-prepared salad that he could get and not have to guilt himself for eating later on.

Roman sighed and pulled into the parking lot, where he parked as close to the door as he could and got out. With his car locked and secure, Roman walked into the gigantic building.

The first thing that hit him was that the lights in this building were too bright. Silently, he found himself thinking that fluorescent lights should be considered  _ deeply  _ illegal after three in the morning. The rest of the world was too dark, and here was this store pretending that it was daylight hours and like they weren't blinding everyone who came in.

He sighed and began his walk towards the back of the store near the deli, where he was sure that if there were prepared foods. If there weren't, starting a riot until someone fed him something healthy didn't seem like the worst idea, Roman decided. He decided to make a beeline through the aisle that was directly in front of him, which was the one that held all of the breakfast cereals.

For a moment, as Roman walked through, he considered getting a box of something, but decided against it. He wasn't home in the mornings often enough to have breakfast regularly. He dragged himself to the back, where he was surprised to see a familiar body, a gigantic man kneeling down next to a display of eggs, opening carton after carton as though he was searching for something that may not have existed.

Roman swallowed, and decided to ignore the man.  He went to the tiny cooler that usually held things like pre-prepared sandwiches, chicken that needed to be reheated, and sometimes sweets. Roman picked up a plastic container that looked like a salad that needed rejuvenation desperately. The greens inside looked limp and weak, and that wasn't the nicest thing to eat, Roman knew that.

He sighed and set the box back down, scratching at his neck for just a moment, still able to feel the results of the night standing dark and slightly raised against his skin.

The man at the egg display stood up, and Roman could hear him put a box of eggs down in his basket. Roman tried to ignore it, he really didn't want to think about anything other than food at the moment. Food and sleep, and nothing else. Suddenly, he heard the voice behind him, low and comforting.

"Uh... Mister Torchwick?"

Roman turned now, seeing that it was exactly who he'd thought that it was. Hei Xiong Junior stood there, carrying a basket with him that held a few staple foods in it and nothing more. He blinked, once, twice, then managed to crack a weak smile in Junior's direction. "Hey there." Roman managed. "What're you doing out of bed, big guy?"

Junior seemed to stiffen again, and Roman wondered for a moment what his problem was, but pushed the thought back. It wasn't a big deal, whatever it was. Finally, he said something. "I uh... I couldn't really sleep and James needed some stuff but wasn't feeling well enough to get it, so I came to pick it up." Junior lifted up his basket of food, as though it was enough to prove his point and make it look like he was there for a good reason.

Which was weird, Roman thought. Did he think that getting groceries was so weird that it needed explanation?

Well, it was early. Maybe it did need explanation.

"Ah." Roman said, looking down into the display case and picking up another box, this time finding another salad- chicken caesar, which wasn't the best possible thing, not that Roman really cared at the moment. He looked into the box, and turned it carefully to check how the greens looked. "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for."

"I think I did." Junior said, looking down into the basket again, then up at Roman again.

Roman realized then that he should probably explain his own presence that morning. Going grocery shopping at four in the morning wasn't exactly normal behavior, in any culture. "I was at the club most of the night," Roman began his own explanation of what he was doing there. "Went home, and realized that I really wanted something to eat. But I really didn't want to make something."

"So..." Junior looked away from him for a moment, like he was trying to piece something together which had no real chance of being explained. "So you came to a grocery store?"

Roman put the box of salad back down into the cooler, in a half-gesture to draw Junior's attention to it. "I figured I'd gamble on what they had here before I ended up eating something I'd regret."

"Ah." Junior looked down into the cooler and frowned. "And how's that working out for you?"

"Absolutely  _ terrible _ ." Roman chuckled. "I might just go get some fast food at this point. Which feels terrible to say, but you know how it is."

Junior seemed to pause then, and when Roman let himself look over at the taller man, he realized that he was staring down into the depths of his basket of food, thinking about something. Roman wondered what the other man was thinking, not really sure what was about to happen, and whether even asking what Junior was thinking was a good idea or not.

"Uh..." Junior started, looking back up at Roman meekly now. "I guess you could come over and I could make you something? It won't be much, just enough stuff to hold you over until later on but-"

At first, Roman wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to react to that question. It was odd, hearing such things from Junior of all people, but Roman wasn’t so sure that he’d mind a meal from someone else. And if Junior was willing, well…

Roman grinned. "Are you inviting me over for the night, Junior?" He asked. "Isn't that a little...  _ inappropriate _ ?”

"Uh... I mean, I figured it'd be better than letting you ruin your diet." Junior looked away from him now, and Roman realized then that it was a sign of shyness on Junior’s part. It was genuine, more so than what Roman was used to. It was like Junior put on a strong face just to do things in public, and Roman found that to be very,  _ very  _ interesting.

Roman hummed, looked at the cooler of food next to him, then back up at Junior. "If I say yes, promise not to say anything about it to anyone that can fire me?"

"Yeah, sure." Junior chuckled. "How did you-"

"Drove." Roman answered, not even giving Junior a chance to finish what he was asking. "How did you get here?"

"I walked." Junior admitted. Roman let his eyes flick up and down Junior's body, seeing that for the first time they were actually dressed somewhat similarly. Roman realized quickly that the look of someone who was just dragging themselves out of bed so that they could do some chores didn't fit him, but it fit Junior exceedingly well. Not entirely unlike the man's gym clothes. 

Junior, feeling Roman's eyes on him looked away again. "I only live a few blocks down from here so..."

"Well," Roman started, realizing quickly that he could offer Junior the ride back to the man's house and hope that it would be enough to make Junior a bit more pliant and willing to work with him when they came to looking at things for the gym again. He knew that it wasn't right to do, but he figured that it wasn't the absolute worst thing to want to do. "I drove here, so how about you and I get whatever it is that you want, and then I'll drive you back to your place-"

"And?"

"And then we'll spend the rest of the night there." Roman chuckled. He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around the grocery store. "Does that sound good to you, big guy?"

"Uh, yeah." Junior reached up for his face, rubbing at his right eye for just a moment before he cracked a smile and dropped the arm back down to his side. "Should I-"

"Lead the way." Roman answered, following once Junior began to walk through the store in search of whatever ingredients he wanted for that morning. By the time that they were in the self checkout, Roman could have sworn that the two of them had walked through every aisle in the store. The entire time he'd just done his best to stay out of Junior's way and let the much larger man do what he wanted. Not that he could do anything to stop Junior other than use his own force of will.

But brawn would probably win out every time, regardless of how good Roman was at flustering the other man.

Junior was scanning through every item, taking his time, but he paused, and Roman watched as the man began to count through everything that he'd gotten, as though there was an important thing that he'd missed in his shopping. Junior's brow furrowed, and he started the count over, then turned and faced Roman. "I think I forgot something, do you mind...."

"No problem." Roman said. "What do you need me to get?"

"Just go and get a bottle of aspirin for me from the pharmacy?" Junior asked. "The strongest thing they have."

Roman smiled, pushing off of the back of the checkout behind him and nodding. "I'll be right back, just hang tight." He flashed Junior a smile before turning and heading back towards the aisle that held the contents of nearly every first aid kit known to man. He didn't want to bother Junior by asking why the other man needed aspirin so badly, but he went there anyways.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t Roman’s business.

He walked through the aisle, past cases holding cough syrup and bandaids with colorful patterns and characters printed on him until he found the rack that held the plain white bottles of aspirin. Roman stopped, wondering whether there had been a word missed in Junior's request. He didn't know what Junior actually wanted him to get, he realized. The man could have been asking for baby aspirin, but since he'd asked for the strongest thing they had, and oh, how Roman had no metric for what  _ that _ meant. It all left Roman feeling a little more than lost.

The redhead frowned and scanned the case until he found a bottle that was labelled as "extra strength," and pulled it down, deciding that it would have to do the trick. Hopefully it was going to be what Junior wanted. He let himself look down at the bottle for just a moment before turning and walking back to the checkout where he'd left Junior as quickly as he could.

When he arrived, he just shoved the bottle into Junior's hand. Junior stared at him dumbly for just a moment before blinking and looking down at the bottle, turning it in his hand. "Yeah, this is the stuff." He finally said, which brought a wave of relief to Roman. With that, Junior finished up the checkout, while Roman took the time to reach into his pocket and find his keys so that they could leave as soon as they were done.

With the food and aspirin paid for, the two began on the way out of the store, with Roman leading the way now out to his orange convertible, which sat just at the front with its top up. "Do you mind riding with that in your lap?" Roman asked as he unlocked the car with a quiet chirp. "I don't want to bother with the trunk right now."

"Nah, it's fine." Junior answered, standing next to the car awkwardly while Roman got in.

There was a moment where Roman wondered why the other man hadn't gotten in yet, then he realized that Junior was probably afraid of punching a hole through the soft top with his head. That was simple enough to fix. Roman put his keys in the ignition and turned them, the car's engine purring to life. He reached over to the button that would bring down the top, and once it was folded away, that was when Junior got in, holding his groceries in his lap.

Roman backed out of his parking space, and drove to the exit to the parking lot. He paused where he was supposed to stop and looked over at Junior now. "You can give me instructions there, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Junior answered. "Not a problem."

Roman smirked. "Good."

With Junior's directions, Roman got them to the apartment building, and pulled up in one of the parking spaces in front of the building. Had it been a reasonable hour in the day, he would have been forced to pay toll, but as it was early in the morning, Roman had nothing to worry about. He raised the top of the car again, and then got out, walking around the side to follow Junior into the apartment building for the first time.

"So, we'll have to be quiet." Junior mumbled as he began to unlock the front door to the building. "Jim's probably going to be... grumpy when we get in there, just try to stay out of his way for a bit."

"Uh... what?" Roman asked, making eye contact with Junior. "What does that mean?"

"He wanted me to get some aspirin for him because we ran out." Junior said, his voice hushed as he pushed the door open, holding it so that Roman could go in first. "He got dropped yesterday at work and his body's taking revenge on him for it."

"He..." Roman blinked. "Is he ok?"

"As ok as he can be." Junior said, stepping inside and turning to the door that would lead to the staircase that was going to bring them up to the second floor of the building. "It's not really my place to talk about it, you have to understand."

"I'll take your word for it." Roman followed after Junior until they were at the door

to the much larger man's apartment.

Junior unlocked the door and pushed it open. "I hope you can excuse the mess."

"It's quite alright, I can assure you." Roman said, keeping his volume low. When he stepped in, he could see the outline of someone sitting on the couch, their head resting in their hands like they were trying to fight through a migraine.

Slowly, the figure on the couch moved, and with a strained voice, spoke. "Junior?"

"Hey." Junior said, stepping in behind Roman and setting the bag of groceries down on the tiny dining room table. He reached in, found the bottle of aspirin, and Roman watched as the man delivered it to the man on the couch. "I got the kind you like."

"Thanks." James answered. Roman listened and stood by the door as the plastic wrap on the bottle was broken and the bottle was opened for the first time. He could hear the sound of the pills moving around, and watched silently from the door as Junior helped James up and helped the man down a hallway, and just waited, as far out of the way as he possibly could.

It was several minutes, and Roman could hear the sound of James and Junior talking in hushed voices.

A door closing, and then Junior was there, looking at him. Roman looked at the taller man and blinked, not sure what he should say. Junior looked at the kitchen, gesturing to it. "So, food?"

"Yeah." Roman answered. "Food sounds great." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take new prompts and questions there!](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/)


	12. Empty Spaces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sit. Talk.

When Junior had left early that morning to get James something weak to kill his pains, Junior hadn't expected to find Roman Torchwick.

Even less did he expect to find Roman looking like he had been almost replaced with another person that was less clean and precise, and less concerned with their looks.

In fact, Junior found it hard to believe that this was the same person he’d come to know.

And _least_ of all, did he expect to find Roman Torchwick sitting cross-legged on his bed at any point in his life.

It was the only furniture in the bedroom, with the exception of a small side table and the dresser that was pressed against the wall next to the door. Aside from those things, there wasn’t any room for anything else to be kept there.

Roman sat up against the headboard at the top of the bed- the first thing that Roman had commented on when he'd come in was the fact that Junior's bed was _really_ big, and then there'd been some quip about how it was plenty of room for two that Junior was now doing his absolute best to _ignore_ as he sat at the end of the bed, with a bowl of rice and chicken in one hand and a fork in the other.

Once in awhile he'd hear the sound of Roman's fork clinking against his bowl as he ate. The two of them hadn’t decided to talk much once the food was out, largely because neither of them wanted to risk waking James or otherwise make asses of themselves.

Junior looked up from his bowl, and after a moment of watching he realized that Roman looked beyond comfortable. The redhead seemed to notice that Junior was looking at him though. He looked up from his meal, and tilted his head slightly, raising an eyebrow. In a hushed voice, he spoke. "Something wrong big guy?"

"Uh," Junior was immediately floundering for words. "Nah, it's just weird."

"What's weird?" Roman looked back down at his food, finishing it off and setting the empty bowl down on the tiny bedside table that held nothing more than Junior's alarm clock and lamp. "You made me something to eat and didn't want to risk waking up your-"

"Brother." Junior finished, setting his own bowl down between his folded legs. "I just... I dunno, it's weird seeing you away from work."

"Is it?" Roman asked, frowning slightly. For the first time since he'd last worked with Roman, Junior realized that the other man definitely had freckles. Roman looked away from Junior for just a moment, and it was then that he noticed that there was a dark, bruise like mark marring the side of Roman's neck. Junior decided quickly not to mention it. "I mean, I know you're used to seeing me all made up and at work, but it's early. But we have literally spent time away from the job together. Must be the makeup."

Junior nodded, leaning back where he was sitting just slightly. "I think that's what it is." He finally said. He pursed his lips. Awkward. Searched for another topic. "I hope the rice is to your liking?"

"Better than I could make." Roman laughed. "Summer bought me a rice cooker a few years ago for Christmas, I don't think I've used it more than once, and that's because the first time it came out _really_ dry."

Junior felt his stomach flip for just a moment. "I'll have to teach you how to make it properly sometime. No rice cooker."

Roman laughed, his voice was almost bell-like, Junior realized. "That won't be necessary, big guy. You made me dinner, I think that's enough." The ginger paused, a sly smile creasing his face and his green eyes narrowing. "I mean, unless you _want_ something more?"

With nothing more than a few words, Roman had made Junior go almost completely rigid. He could feel his heartbeat speed up in his chest as he came to the immediate realization that he had absolutely no idea as to what he was supposed to say to Roman. Usually, when Roman spoke in innuendo, he was able to brush it off much easier, but now the realization that Roman was sitting across from him on his bed made ignoring that comment _much_ harder than normal.

Finally, Junior spoke. "Uh, no, I'm good."

Roman chuckled, leaning back against the headboard now. "That's too bad. Could have been fun." The room went silent. Junior watched Roman's eyes flick over him and then away. He wondered exactly what the other man was thinking about, what he was supposed to say to Roman, and then Roman spoke, this time dodging any awkward jokes and going for a more serious topic. "I was wondering." Roman started.

Junior dreaded where this would go.

"I sent a mockup for an ad home with James yesterday, did he give it to you or-"

"What?" Junior asked, wondering what Roman was talking about. He tried to think back to the events at the gym the day before, grasping at straws as he tried to figure out if he'd somehow missed something, or he knew about the ad and never saw it, or whether he'd just forgotten about whatever Roman had sent when James had gotten knocked out. "No, I don't think I saw it."

"Oh." Roman said, eyes darkening for a moment. "I figure you'll see it sooner than later. I'm not worried about it."

"Uh... is it good?"

"I mean, I’m a little biased on the topic." Roman chuckled. "I designed it, so, of course I'm going to say it's good."

Junior blinked, realizing then and there that it appeared that Roman did much, much more than he had originally thought. When he and James had first talked about hiring a promoter, he'd been partially under the impression that they were going to be hiring someone that would just make a lot of phone calls for them, not that they would be hiring someone to do almost everything that was within his reach.

Junior looked away, feeling terribly awkward for a moment then looked back at Roman, who was barely a foot away from him, sitting on his bed like there wasn't anything wrong with the situation.

Finally, Junior thought of something that he could say to the other man. "I think I trust you with the ads."

"I'd hope so." Roman laughed. "I like making things look good.

"I figured as much." Junior chuckled. He reached up, rubbed at his eyes and let himself look over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. It was almost _six in the morning_ , and he'd barely gotten any sleep. He felt a little like he was hitting a wall at this point, like his brain was going to shut down at any moment and force him to sleep. "So... you were at a club tonight?"

"Oh, yeah." Roman said. "I like to stop in on all of my projects and see how they're doing.  I'm going to guess that you don't go clubbing much though?" Roman raised an eyebrow, and Junior realized for a moment that he was being judged. "That's too bad, you'd probably have a good time." Roman finally chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Junior asked. "I don't really dance."

"Everyone in the club would probably be all over you." Roman chuckled. "Either that or they'd think you're a bouncer."

Junior cocked his head, not sure what Roman meant by that entire statement.

Roman, saw this, and half scrambled to explain himself. “It’s not a bad thing. Promise.” He looked away from Junior, a soft smile still on his face, then made direct eye contact. "I mean, cute people all over you is always a fun time, right?"

For just a moment, Junior felt his breath hitch in his throat, realizing that Roman had very green eyes, and that Roman was much, much less intimidating when he was away from work. Which was, if anything, a small relief to Junior. He didn't actually like confrontation much, and he knew very well that would probably sound weird if he ever said it out loud, but it was true.

He didn't like fighting people, not for real. And so seeing Roman with his guard down- at least, he _thought_ it was Roman's guard was down, Junior didn't actually know what had really changed- was nice.

"I mean, I think so?" Junior asked, letting his eyes stray off to the side away from Roman. "It's just not really my thing."

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Roman said. "It's definitely not for everyone. Boxing isn't really for me, I don't think."

Junior looked up, wondering whether Roman had just admitted that he was uncomfortable in the gym or not. If that was the case, that wasn't good for him and James and the business- they needed for Roman to be on board with helping them as much as they could get him to be. Anything less was probably going to go poorly for them. "Is... does it bother you?" Junior hesitated. "Being at the gym?"

"What?" Roman asked. "No, not really. I just don't think it's for me. I think Summer loves it though- she feels like she can kick anyone's ass in there, regardless of size. But that's just how Summer is, she wants to conquer everything that comes her way." Roman laughed, and for the first time, Junior realized that the other man was probably feeling terribly awkward about this particular conversation as well. "I get to come out and do my job, and get ideas about how to fix things, that's where I belong."

"Roman, can you be honest with me?" Junior kept his voice a bit quieter, knowing that he probably was more intimidating than he wanted to be just as a default state. "If there's something wrong, you're going to tell me, right? I take my family's business very seriously, and I don't want you feeling wrong there."

Roman shrugged. "It feels like you have a family there. I don't fit in so well. I like nightclubs because there's none of that whole family atmosphere. But at your gym, everyone seems to know everyone, and they're happy to do so. I like keeping things separate."

Ah, that made sense, Junior thought. He shook his head, letting his eyes stray over Roman's features for just a moment before looking back at the alarm clock. It was almost time for him to get up and go to work, he realized. Bringing Roman home had been a pretty bad idea, it turned out. For a moment, Junior wondered whether he'd be able to get away with not opening for a day and spend the day at home sleeping instead of going in for work. "I get that." He finally mumbled.

"Hey, Junior?"

"Yeah?" Junior flicked his attention back over to Roman, without any hesitation. "Something wrong?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, big guy." Roman answered. "You seem... weird."

"Oh." Junior felt his cheeks heat under his facial hair. "I uh, I have to go to work soon, technically."

"Should I go so you can get ready do that?" Roman arched an eyebrow, punctuating the question. "Or do you want me to come with you. I get the feeling your brother there won't be much use."

Junior sighed, turning and standing up. He heard the springs in his mattress creak slightly under his weight. He offered his hand to Roman, silently asking the smaller man for his bowl. Roman, understanding what he was asking, picked up the bowl of rice- which it turned out he'd only half-finished, and passed it to Junior. "I was actually thinking about just driving to the gym and posting a closed sign for the day, actually." Junior admitted. "I know I shouldn't but-"

"But you haven't gotten to sleep." Roman chuckled. "I get it."

"Exactly." Junior said. "And my job requires that everyone's well rested."

"Makes sense to me." Roman looked at the door, then back to Junior. "Take your dishes to the sink, I'm not going anywhere."

Junior stiffened, realizing how awkward he was being. He turned to the door, opening it as quietly as he could. "I'll be right back, ok?"

"Not going anywhere." Roman called, still keeping his volume on the low end. "As I said."

"Right." Junior let the door close behind him. He walked to the kitchen and carefully setting his bowls down in the sink as quietly as he could. He looked down into the sink, seeing the two bowls and their silverware that they'd used just sitting there, useless as ever.

He wondered whether he should have run some cool water and splashed it onto his face in hopes of making himself look less like he was blushing underneath his facial hair.

Oh, how glad he was to have facial hair in that moment. If Roman had seen him blush, he never would have heard the end of it, he was sure. He sighed, reached out, and turned on the cold faucet, gently splashing his face with it before dragging himself back to his bedroom where inevitably, Roman Torchwick would be sitting on his bed, probably with a shit-eating grin on his face and ready to drop another lewd joke at any moment.

He paused at the door, exhaled slowly and pushed it open. When he came in, he saw that Roman was half-twisted where he was sitting, looking out the window and watching the way that the sky turned from dark to light, the once midnight blue now bathed in shades of orange, pink, and red. Roman looked over at Junior, presumably having heard the way that the door had creaked open when it happened.

Neither of them said anything. The door closed behind Junior.

He crossed the small space between himself and the bed, and he lowered himself down onto the bed as gently as possible in an attempt to avoid jostling Roman. He didn't know why he did this, not really. But he did anyways.

Roman smiled weakly at him. "You make up your mind about whether you're going to work or not yet?"

Junior sighed. "James will probably hate me for it, but I think I'm going to call it a closed day. It's important that if I go in, I have to be well rested since I'll be managing the entire front and back by the looks of things."

Roman nodded. "Want me to go?"

"I don't know." Junior admitted. "Having you here is kind of nice."

Junior had almost instant regrets about saying that. These regrets were compounded by the fact that there was a minor change in all of Roman’s demeanor. It was in the way that he altered how he sat, and a smile split his face that was unlike any of the others that Junior had seen thus far.

“So what you’re telling me,” Roman purred. “Is that you like me.”

“Uh-” Junior swallowed, trying to figure out exactly what it was that he wanted to say to that. How he was supposed to handle the way that Roman was now choosing to act. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Roman tilted his head, his coppery hair swaying gently with the motion as he leaned forward slightly to get a better view of Junior. The motion shouldn’t have been intimidating at all, but Junior still found himself leaning back in his seat at the realization that Roman’s action was almost predatory.

Finally, Roman spoke, looking up at Junior with green eyes behind a curtain of red. “It’s a good thing, Junior.” The words came out, smooth as butter. “Because I think I _might_ just like you too.”

All of a sudden, it felt like the entire world stopped.

Junior became painfully aware of how different he and Roman were then, and he almost felt like he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, just that he couldn’t breathe and he didn’t have even the slightest clue as to why.

The world still in standstill, Roman shifted, sitting back in his seat and looking forward at Junior as he settled back against the headboard. The distance restored between the two of them, it was like Junior could actually breathe properly again.

In one fell swoop, Roman Torchwick could upset the balance of the universe and restore it just as easily.

It was a terrifying prospect.

Roman, in perhaps the first obvious show of nervousness on his part lifted up a hand, pushing his red hair out of his face and exposing himself properly to Junior. Junior didn’t know if it was Roman’s way of showing submission, or what it could possibly be, but it made him more comfortable.

Roman spoke.

“So, do you want me to stick around, or-”

“You can stay.” Junior said. “I can make breakfast or something, and then-”

“Breakfast sounds good-”

“Yeah.” Junior managed. “Yeah, it does.”

Junior rubbed at his eyes again, looking over at the alarm clock again, which still announced proudly and annoyingly that he hadn’t managed to sleep at all that night. He wanted to sleep, Junior realized.

No.

He _needed_ to sleep.

Roman looked like he wasn’t doing so well in the sleep department either.

“So, I hate to do this,” Junior mumbled, blinking and trying to keep himself awake. “But I haven’t really gotten a chance to sleep.”

“Yeah?” Roman asked, sounding a bit awkward. “Should I-”

“It’s probably best that Jim doesn’t know that you’re here overnight.”

“So what should-”

“You can hang out in here?” Junior offered, looking around the tiny room and it’s lack of proper furniture aside from his bed. “I mean, if you don’t mind.”

Roman looked at the bed, then back up at Junior. “I haven’t slept either, so, I could just… sleep while you sleep?”

Junior blinked twice, trying to get a handle on what he had just been asked. What it was that Roman meant. “I mean… I guess you could?”

Roman smiled, stretched his legs out, and settled into the bed beside Junior. He seemed to be making himself comfortable, Junior realized before lying down in the bed himself, trying to keep some distance between himself and Roman as he settled in to sleep, at least until later.

Sleep didn’t come easily. The warmth of Roman beside him, the other man’s breathing, every shift in the mattress came as a distraction that kept Junior awake.

He might have laid there for an hour before sleep finally overtook him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take new prompts and questions there!](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/)


	13. Mother Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pancakes pancakes pancakes

When Roman woke up, he was surrounded by warmth, and he could clearly feel another body pressed against his. For a long moment, he had to sort through his mind to figure out whose bed he was waking up in, and whether he’d accidentally done something that he was going to regret later on.

Carefully, he pushed himself upright, first noting that he was still clothed. It was a small relief, but it wasn’t much. He raised a hand to his eye, rubbing away his sleep and inhaled deeply before turning his head to see who it was that he was lying next to.

He wasn’t entirely ready for who it would end up being. Through the haze of his exhaustion, Roman realized that he was lying next to Hei Xiong Junior of all people.

Oh.

Oh no.

This was potentially, very, very bad.

For just a moment Roman wracked his mind to figure out how he’d gotten there, and once he sorted through everything, he forced himself up and out of the bed, sure to be as careful as possible as he moved around so that he wouldn’t wake up Junior as his instincts kicked into overdrive. He had to either get out before he got noticed, or he had to try to make everything as easy as possible when Junior woke up.

He fought with himself for a long moment, trying to decide if making an exit worthy of a spy thriller was worth it. This wasn’t some one night stand of his where the protocol was to get out as soon as possible.

Junior was a business partner.

Leaving now, even though it seemed like nothing had happened, would be far, far too uncomfortable. It would cast a new shadow over their work relationship that was only going to make working together impossible.

Roman was about to get up so that he could go to the bathroom, when he heard the sound of three, sharp, knocks against Junior’s door.

Shit.

Abort mission.

Abort the mission three weeks ago.

A voice called through the door, distinctly feminine. Roman opened his mouth to say something, but he only managed to freeze. Behind him on the bed, Junior shifted, sitting up halfway and blinking before a half panic seemed to take him over.

As Junior rushed the door, all Roman did was push himself against the wall and out of the way so that he couldn’t get bowled over by Junior’s sheer size, and Roman was quite sure that he wouldn’t hold up so well after being accidentally tackled by Junior.

He knew his limits. Getting accidentally tackled by Junior would probably leave Roman with more than a few broken ribs. Or it’d leave him dead. Whichever. 

Roman slid against the wall until he was probably out of view of the door. His and Junior’s eyes met for just a moment before Junior opened the door, just enough to make sure that he could talk to whoever was on the other side. “Hey, mom.” Junior said, his voice craggy from sleep. “What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to check on my boys.” The woman said. Roman took the opportunity to slide further out of the way of the door. “Is there something wrong with that?” There was a moment of silence, and then the woman’s voice came back up. “Are you hiding something from me?”

Junior stuttered, seemingly trying to come up with any way that he’d be able to explain this way to his mother, while Roman found that there wasn’t really a place that he’d be able to hide for a little bit, at least until he knew what he wanted to do.

“Oh, I’m not hiding anything.” Junior started, voice level. “I’m just tired.”

“Well, I wanted to have breakfast with you and James. Get up.”

“Yes mom.” Junior sighed. “Do you mind?”

“Take your time. I’m going to go wake up your brother.”

Junior closed the door behind him and looked over at Roman, his expression unreadable. From where he was standing, Roman was absolutely certain that he wasn’t going to be able to decode whatever it was that the much larger man was thinking at the moment.

All that he was able to read as of right then was that Junior was probably silently panicking.

When Junior spoke, his voice was barely audible, sitting somewhere between a growl and a whisper in tone. “Roman,” He started, looking back at the door over his shoulder. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but my mother’s here.”

“I noticed, big guy.” Roman managed to deadpan the words out, looking to the door and being as careful as possible to keep his volume controlled. “Do you have  _ any  _ idea on how to handle this?”

“I-” Junior hesitated, also looking back over his shoulder at the door to see if someone was about to come in. “I don’t know if we can other than-”

“Other than  _ what? _ ”

“She’ll notice you.” Junior mumbled. “Even if James is slow getting out of bed, she’ll notice there’s more than just me.”

“How will she notice-”

“You’re lighter.” Junior cut Roman off before he got a chance to finish. “Look, you have to-”

Roman took two steps back, placing as much distance between him and Junior as he possibly could in that moment. He didn't have even the slightest clue as to how he was supposed to deal with this, and the fact that he was also looking forward to the prospect of both meeting Junior's mother for the first time and also dealing with James who Roman was absolutely positive couldn't stand him didn't make things look so enticing from his point of view.

Oh, this was a mess.

Roman took a deep breath, let  his eyes slip shut for just a moment as he collected his thoughts, then looked at Junior. "You're going to go out there, and you're going to distract your mother."

"Okay." Junior agreed, sounding like he was perhaps more than a little reluctant to agree with what it was that Roman was saying. "And then what?"

"When you have her distracted, I'm going to do my best to sneak out. You're big, be the best human wall that you can be, got it?"

"Uh..." Junior paused, pursing his lips and looking back at the door with a look on his face that could be described as looking more than a little guilty. "Yeah." He finally managed. "Sure."

Damn, Roman thought. He almost felt bad for the guy. Junior seemed too nice, and Roman got the strong feeling that he wasn't exactly the type to go lying to his mother left and right just because someone asked him to. It was a sticky situation though, Roman reminded himself. Some things had to be taken care of as well as they could.

The two split apart, with Junior going to the dresser to pull out a fresh shirt, which only left Roman raising an eyebrow. Why did Junior need to change?

Junior's voice broke the silence, still as low in volume as it possibly could be. "Uh, hey, Roman, do you-"

Roman's eyes went wide at the realization of what it was that Junior was asking for him to do. He straightened his back, and in one quick turn, he faced his back towards Junior. He listened as Junior slid out of his clothes, and for a long moment Roman couldn't help but wonder what the guy would look like. All he'd have to do is turn his head and look back over his shoulder-

_ No. _

Roman stopped himself, stopped that thought from going any further than it already had. This was a very bad idea on his part, and Roman knew that full well. He and Junior were working together, and the fact that the two had temporarily slept in the same bed was already very, very bad for their business relationship. 

The last thing that needed to happen was for Roman to go out of his way to make the situation get even worse than it already was by turning his head so that he could get a look at how Junior looked shirtless.

Which was too bad, Roman thought.

He was more than sure that Junior's back was a little more than  _ just  _ well muscled.

"It's safe." Junior's voice pulled Roman back to earth with the velocity of a meteor hitting the planet. Roman relaxed a little bit and turned around, to see that now Junior was wearing a good pair of jeans and a t-shirt that showed off his arms, and  _ oh  _ that was a sweet sight.

Roman nodded at Junior, giving the much bigger man the permission that he needed to be able to leave the room and start with part one of their little operation.

Distracting the mother.

Junior stepped out of the door, careful to leave the door open just a crack behind him so that Roman would be able to peer out and see whether the coast was clear or not for him to move. Roman approached the door, braced himself against the frame, and leaned into towards the crack, giving himself the best view possible of what was going on just down the hall.

He could see down the hall that Junior was standing in a position that made it look like his arms were crossed over his chest and talking to someone. He could hear a series of uneven steps, and the sound of the woman's voice. The voices travelled, like Junior was following after his mother into the kitchen.

There was the sounds of pots and pans, and as Junior and his mother fell out of view, Roman got a view of James, leaning against a cane like he desperately needed it and hobbling down the hallway towards the living room.

_ Goddamnit _ , of all the things.

Roman grimaced, steeling himself. Once James was out of view, he finally allowed himself to move. He pushed the door in front of him open as best he could, only for it to let out a loud, sickening creak.

_ No. _

_ Shit. _

With that creak,a bad situation turned to one that was much, much worse. Roman squeezed his eyes shut, controlled his breathing, and prayed that nobody had heard them.

Then there was James' voice. "Junior-"

"Jim, I can explain-"

"Hei Xiong Junior, what is going on?"

_ Shit. _

Roman tried to take a step back from the door, hoping that they would all forget about the sound that the door had made, but he should have known better than to think that there would have been a good result from all of this. He heard Junior's voice again, this time trying to explain.

"Look, Roman just crashed here last-"

" _ Roman's _ in our apartment." James' voice was serious, but deeply controlled. "Junior what were you-”

_ "James." _ The sound of Junior's mother's voice broke through it all, like she was doing the absolute most that was in her power to keep the peace between James and Junior. "Junior, go get your..."

"Uh, friend."

"Friend." Junior's mother finished. "Please."

And that was it. Roman's presence had been exposed and any prospect of making a clean getaway was more than gone. This was it, he was screwed. He inhaled deeply, hoping that this wouldn't be too awkward, and then he heard Junior's voice.

"Roman-" Junior called. "They know you're here, come out."

Well, this was it. Time to go.

Roman pushed the door the rest of the way open, realizing quickly that he didn't have any makeup on to make him at least feel like himself while he did this. It was a bit uncomfortable, he almost felt like he was naked. He padded down the hallway, as quietly as he could and pushed his red hair out of his face.

What he was met with was the dining room and kitchen, where Junior was leaning against a wall, while a woman that was probably not much shorter than Roman was bustled about the kitchen, getting plates, pots and pans ready so that she could make something for herself. At the kitchen table, James sat, glowering in Roman's direction with a look that asked silently ' _ what the hell are you doing here? _ '

The woman turned, looked Roman up and down with bright green eyes, and then smiled. "Hello." The woman greeted Roman with a soft smile. "You must be one of Junior's friends." She offered Roman her hand, the first true sign that Roman wasn't unwelcome there, just that he didn't necessarily belong so well. "I'm Lin."

Roman reached out, took Lin's hand, and offered a strong handshake before releasing a moment later. "Roman Torchwick." He introduced himself, letting his eyes slide over to Junior for just a moment as he quietly asked whether there was anything in particular that he needed to say or do. Given nothing as a response, Roman cracked a smile at Lin. "It's always wonderful meeting a beautiful woman such as yourself."

" _ Ha _ !" Lin let out a loud laugh, half turning to face James. "He's funny."

"Yeah." James deadpanned. "He sure is."

Roman swallowed at the sound of James' voice, then looked between Lin and Junior. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"You aren't the one that should be sorry." Lin offered, looking to Junior, who was currently filling a coffee filter. "Junior, why didn't you mention that you had company at first? Hiding your friend like that, it's almost like you're a teenager again."

" _ Mom- _ "

"You know, there's nothing to be ashamed of-"

" _ Mom- _ "

"Junior, you don't have to be so rude." Lin said, sliding her eyes over to James for just a moment before back to Junior and Roman. "You're usually the good son."

Roman looked around the room, not really sure where he should place himself. He saw that there was an empty seat at the table, not too far from where James was sitting. He approached, slipped into the seat, and watched as Junior tried to navigate the kitchen around his mother, despite the fact that Junior took up so much more room than she did. It was almost funny to watch, Roman thought.

The room was filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee, and then Junior raised his voice to catch Roman's attention. "How do you like your coffee?" Junior called, barely craning his neck to make sure that he got a good look at Roman. "I figure you probably want some after last night."

"With cream." Roman said with a smirk, watching Junior from his seat. He crossed one leg over the other and allowed himself to sink back into his seat just a bit, making himself feel a bit more at home. "And I think that'll be all."

"Alright." Junior called back. Roman heard the sound of Junior pouring coffee more than he saw it, and then Junior was shouldering his way through the kitchen, where Lin had taken on the task of making pancakes for everyone that was there, and over to the table where James and Roman sat. Junior set the first mug of coffee down in front of Roman, and when he looked down into the depths of the drink he saw that it was a light brown color, a sharp contrast to the completely black drink that was set down in front of James.

Junior seemed to hover there for a moment, like he was expecting for someone to compliment him on how the coffee was prepared. When Roman realized that this was probably being done for him as opposed to James, he made a point to lift the hot mug to his lips, taking note of the "World's Okayest Boss" graphic that was printed on the side before sipping the hot coffee.

Warmth filled his bones, and when Roman set the mug back down, he made a point to make direct eye contact with Junior, even if it had to be done through his hair. "It's good." Roman offered with a smile. "Thanks for the coffee, big guy."

Junior's expression changed to something else for just a moment, and then he turned, going back into the depths of the kitchen and beginning to help Lin out with anything that needed working on. It was awkward, Roman thought. The last time that he'd felt so out of place somewhere was when he'd first walked into Xiong's with Summer to learn how to box, but this was different.

When he'd gone into Xiong's he'd been left with the overwhelming feeling that he just simply didn't belong there- that it was a place too harshly founded on strict images of masculinity and power which Roman hadn't been able to match up to over the course of his entire life. But here it was different, here it was a situation where Roman explicitly didn't belong because of the fact that he wasn't part of the Xiong's weird, cobbled-together family.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He shouldn't have been here in the first place, so he supposed that he should have expected for things to be awkward.

However, there were some things in particular that were making things worse for him.

At the top of that list was the fact that James was occasionally shooting him weird looks, with the man's eyes settling on Roman's neck once in awhile, something which Roman quickly noticed.

He wondered whether James was thinking about throttling him for being there.

For just a moment, Roman and James' eyes met and the two had a silent conversation where they laid out that they were on the same terms. It didn't answer the question as to why James had kept on staring at Roman's neck. Or rather, it didn't answer that question until James lifted his left hand, moving it to the right side of his neck like he was going to scratch it, only for him to gently tap at it.

What?

Roman lifted a hand, touching the side of his neck on the side that James had indicated, and what he felt answered all of his questions.

There was a hickey there. Damn.

It couldn't have been from Junior, Roman thought, trying to sort through the possibilities as he brought his hand back down to the coffee mug so that if Junior or Lin looked over at him they wouldn't have their attention immediately drawn to the fact that there was a spot on the side of Roman's neck that had turned ugly shades of red as a result of getting too close with a bar patron.

Roman looked over at James now, taking note of the fact that it looked like there was an ugly bruise beginning to develop along the man's jawline. Roman cracked a smile, lifted a hand, and tapped at the junction of his jaw and his neck, his own silent signal to James that something was wrong.

Taking the hint, James raised a hand to touch the side of his jaw, only to wince at the feeling of his fingers pressing against the tender bruise that was frowning. Roman frowned, realizing that James might have been under the impression that he either hadn't bruised so badly or that he hadn't bruised at all. Roman opened his mouth to apologize, only for James to raise a hand to silently say "no."

Roman nodded, picked up his mug of coffee, and only sipped from it. He turned his head to look at what was going on in the kitchen. It was weird, watching how Junior worked with his mother. The way that the mass of a man that was Junior would allow for himself to be pushed out of the way and moved around the kitchen by a woman that was ultimately much smaller than him in every way.

Junior edged his way out of the kitchen for a second time, approaching Roman and James with a fresh ice pack and a small napkin which had been folded over, like it was meant to hide something. Junior set those down on the table in front of James, who silently reached out to take them. Roman watched as James cracked a weak smile at Junior, and then politely averted his eyes away from the much bigger man, getting the feeling that whatever had just happened was strictly something that he wasn't supposed to see.

Maybe he'd offer to teach James how to cover up that bruise sometime, Roman thought. It probably wouldn't be too hard, assuming that James agreed to it.

Lin's cheerful voice came from the kitchen. "Boys!" She called, stirring something in a bowl and looking over at James and Roman with too-vivid green eyes. "Any preferences on the pancakes this morning."

"I'm not hungry." James called bac.

Roman spoke up. "No chocolate please." He said, keeping his voice light enough that nobody would question him. He just didn't want to risk ruining his diet on chocolate. While cheating on his diet probably wasn't out of the question, it still wasn't anything that he wanted to do.

Lin frowned, and Roman wondered for a long moment as to who she was frowning at before turning to the stove. "Very well." She sighed. The woman looked back at Junior over her shoulder. "Go sit with your friend and your brother."

"Yes, mom." Junior said, almost sounding like a kicked puppy before he left the kitchen and pulled out a spare seat from behind the table. He sat down, rested his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward slightly.

Roman offered him a wavering smile, though he knew it probably wouldn't actually do much for Junior in that moment. Junior smiled back, only to shake his head at the realization that James was probably staring between the two of them. Junior sat up a bit, opened his mouth to say something, and was only cut off by James.

"You can explain later." James half-growled. "Right now, your mother's here."

"I'm your mother too, James!" Lin called from the kitchen. "Don't you go forgetting that."

Junior shot James a pointed look, and once again Roman was left feeling very strongly that he didn't belong there. They were a family, albeit a strange one, and Roman was now inadvertently trespassing on their time together. He should have gotten up and left the apartment, taken his car, and gone home so that he could at least think about what he was supposed to be doing later that night.

Finally, James spoke up, his voice tight like it had been in their meetings. "Yes mom." It was like he didn't want to say the words.

With that, Lin stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of pancakes which she set down on the table between James, Roman, and Junior. "Get your own dishes." She ordered the three. Junior got up, looking between James and Roman. "I'll get everything."

Lin slid into an empty seat, rested her hand on her open palm, and just gave Roman a quick once over that shouldn't have made him anywhere near as uncomfortable as it did. Maybe, Roman thought, maybe if he were dressed in something that wasn't just his sweats, or if his hair had been done and wasn't almost assuredly sticking up weirdly in places, or if he had his makeup on he would have felt comfortable.

Well.

Maybe not.

That all wouldn't make up for the fact that he was still a thousand times less masculine than James and Junior were, despite being just as much of a man as either of them.

But he could handle that. He could handle getting weird looks because he didn't look like how most men did, that was his comfort zone. But instead, he felt naked, exposed, and even wrong sitting there in Junior's kitchen.

"So." Lin began, smiling sweetly at him. "How do you know Hei?"

"Work." Roman answered, deciding to be frank. He shot a smile back at her, trying to put on his usual charms so that he would be able to feel alright.

"Really?" Lin cocked her head, and he saw her squint at him just a little bit, like she was trying to size him up. "You don't look like you work at the gym.”

"That's because he doesn't, mother." James said, not moving to take any food once Junior delivered the plates. "He's helping us with a new advertisement."

Lin looked over at James, her face screwing up in slight confusion for just a moment before looking back over at Roman, who was still sitting there. Roman shifted in his seat again, crossing one leg over the other and trying to get himself feeling like he would at his most confident. He really should have figured that it wouldn't be enough, but he figured it was worth a try.

"Jimmy here-"

"It's  _ James- _ "

" _ James _ is correct." Roman said, flashing a smile in Lin's direction. "I'm a promoter, I make them look good."

Lin turned her head, now facing towards Junior, who was seating himself at the dining room table. He froze almost immediately as soon as her eyes were on him, and Roman wondered if he'd accidentally said something that he shouldn't have. Did this woman not know about what was going on at the family business?

"Junior?" Lin asked.

Junior sighed. "There was an issue regarding money. We called Roman to help us get the business looking a bit better so that we can get out of a hole." He sounded defeated, like he had just had to bare his entire soul to someone that had no idea as to who he was or what roads he walked. "I'm sorry."

Lin looked to James now, then to Junior. "Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"We didn't want you to worry." James managed, making a point not to look over at Lin. Like he was afraid of seeing the look of disappointment that was crossing Lin’s face.

In that moment, Roman was beyond glad that he was ultimately an outsider to this situation. He didn't have a mother to disappoint here, genetic or otherwise.

Lin sighed heavily, and seated herself at the table between James and Junior, running a hand back through her thick black hair to push it away from her green eyes. She was silent, like she was going to either snap or cry at any moment and nobody knew what would happen. Eventually, she exhaled, and let herself speak.

When her green eyes reopened, she looked across the table to lock her eyes with Roman. "I'm sorry you've had to come into things like this," she spoke softly, "but I'm trusting you to make sure that my boys are well taken care of and for you to help the gym. It means a lot to this family."

Shit, this was a minefield unlike any other.

He reached across the table and took Lin's hand in his own, offering her a soft smile that was meant to do nothing more than comfort. "I'm going to do anything in my power to help your sons with the gym, Mrs. Xiong." Roman offered, squeezing her hand gently before pulling his hand back. "You have my word."

Lin looked up at him, her eyes looking like they were growing wet with tears. She cracked a weak smile at him and nodded. There was a moment's silence that drifted through the room before Lin finally spoke again. "You should all eat your breakfast." She said, the words sounding like a command despite how soft her voice was. "You're all getting too skinny."

James spoke first, his voice scarily level as he did so. "Of course, mother."

Junior next. "We'll eat and then... Roman?"

"I should go after breakfast." Roman said, answering Junior's question without the rest of it needing to even be spoken. "I have a business engagement tonight that I can't  _ really  _ afford to miss."

The rest of the morning was spent in relative silence, with Roman and Junior eating most of the pancakes while James was content to mostly just drink his coffee and block out everything else that was going on in the room around him. Lin's presence was a silent weight that kept the room quiet, and so when it was time for Roman to leave, he got up as quietly as he could before walking back to Junior's room to get his things, with Junior at his side.

Together, they stepped out of the apartment and exchanged a look. Junior spoke, with his voice as quiet as he could possibly keep it. "So, I'll see you around again soon, right?" Junior asked, looking back over his shoulder to make sure that nobody was listening in on them.

And for some reason, the fact that Junior had gone ahead and asked Roman that particular question was more than enough to leave the smaller man feeling a bit confused. It almost sounded like Junior wanted to spend time together again outside of work.

Which frankly, Roman was more than okay with for the most part.

If he wasn't working with Junior, he probably would have even taken the time to proposition the man.

But alas, they were working together and such a relationship would be inappropriate.

Never mind that Roman didn't even know whether Junior would be interested or not.

Roman opened his mouth to speak, the words catching in his throat before he finally thought of something to say. "Yeah, I think I'll be around." Roman said, keeping his expression as steeled as possible. "I'll be sure to drop in on monday, sound good big guy?"

"It's a date." Junior said, almost like he hadn't even thought about what he'd said.

Roman smirked, turned his phone on and raised it up in front of his face to snap a quick picture of Junior as a reminder. Satisfied, he saved the image and looked back up at Junior with a sly grin stretched across his face. "Yeah." He said, grinning. "We'll call it a date if that's what you want."

" _ Wait- _ "

Roman stepped away, looked back over his shoulder at Junior and winked, leaving the building and Junior alone, even if it was only for a few days.

When Roman Torchwick got into the car, he had absolutely no regrets.   



	14. Talk It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior is a confused bear man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should make a note of this now, before you guys get too deep into this chapter. It's a short chapter, especially compared to last week's, but at the same time I have to put a huge disclaimer on this chapter. 
> 
> This is the last chapter before I'm upping this fic's rating to E. I've announced that there would be a rating shift on [tumblr](http://general-ironwoods.tumblr.com/) already, but I've decided that it was best to hold out here until we were right on top of it. 
> 
> So yeah. Last chapter before the rating goes up. Be warned. Get ready. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Comments are love <3

Junior was stuck.

The morning had been a whirlwind for him in a lot of ways, from Roman's presence, to his mother's presence, to the fact that James was probably angry at him and he'd have to inevitably explain everything to him. But somehow, of all the things that could have thrown Junior off that morning, the thing that he would have expected to throw him off the _least_ was Roman leaving.

And yet here he was, standing dumbstruck in the middle of the hallway just outside of his apartment, where he knew James was probably washing the dishes and talking to Lin.

He really didn't want to have to go back in there and explain himself.

He didn't want to have to do that normally, let alone go back in when he was feeling a bit flustered and confused by everything that was going on.

_Why had Roman decided to wink at him like that?_

Why had he said such stupid things to someone that would obviously jump all over them and take complete advantage of his missteps?

Why did Roman have to speak in innuendo?

Junior hesitated at the door, and even let himself slump against the wall next to it for a moment as he struggled to pull his thoughts together and figure out exactly what the hell had just happened. He closed his eyes, and lifted a hand to his face, rubbing it across his beard for a moment. Junior sighed heavily and turned around, knowing that he _really_ didn't want to have to deal with what was on the other side.

With a heavy sigh, Junior pushed himself off against the wall and turned to the door. He reached forward and pulled it open before he summoned his nerves and stepped into the apartment. Sure enough, James was helping to clean up the dishes from that morning and Lin was sitting at the table, her head in her hands as she talked to James quietly.

As soon as he was inside, both of their faces snapped up to stare at him.

God, he really didn't want to be there right now.

Lin stood up, crossed the room, and wrapped her arms around Junior to hug him for just a moment. Junior didn't have even the slightest clue as to why she would want to hug him then, but he hugged back, hoping to offer some comfort to his mother. His poor mother.

She pulled away from Junior and reached up, doing her best to brush his hair into order with her hands for just a moment before speaking up. "You can do this, Hei." She offered a weak smile to him. "I'm not mad."

"I am." James growled from in the kitchen.

Junior winced almost immediately at the sound of James' voice. "I expected that."  Junior said as he stepped away from Lin to look over at James, who had his hands buried deep in the sink. James' brow was furrowed, like he was focusing all of the attention that he physically could into scrubbing a spot away from a plate as violently as he possibly could without breaking the dish in the process. "Look, I can explain-"

" _Why did he stay overnight?_ "

_Shit._

There it was.

Junior scrambled mentally to figure out what he was supposed to say to James that would be able to diffuse the situation. He’d invited Roman over to eat, and he hadn’t exactly banked on Roman choosing to stay the rest of the morning instead of leaving once they’d finished eating.

So what was he supposed to say to James?

“Look, James-" Junior started. Stopped. Tried to put his thoughts together in a way that made more sense than his first approach would. "I ran into him-"

"Did you now?" James growled at Junior. "I'm sure that running into him was such a coincidence. Did you give him a hickey when you ran into him or was that there before?”

Junior was taken aback by that comment.

He'd noticed that there was a mark of some sort that had formed on Roman's neck, but he didn't know where it had come from. It had been there when he'd first run into Roman. He was also willing to bet that it wasn’t new, just that the mark had been hidden by concealer or foundation or mascara or whatever it was that Roman used.

"I didn't-" Junior inhaled through his nostrils, knowing fully well that James probably wouldn't believe a word that he said right now. "He had it when he got here. I invited him over to eat because I ran into him at the grocery store when I went to get _your_ aspirin." Junior reached up with a hand to scratch at his beard in an obvious nervous manner. "That's it. That's all that happened."

"Oh, of course." James said, sarcasm tinting his tone as he spoke. "You ran into him at the grocery store at five in the morning, how obvious." The sarcasm went away, only to be replaced with grave seriousness. "You honestly think I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes!" Junior exclaimed. "I do, because it's true."

"You're a bad liar." James said, blue eyes narrowing and his body looking like it was a spring being wound tighter and tighter until eventually, James would attack him. "You know he's a business partner right? You can't go doing stuff like this."

"Why not?"

"Because it's probably illegal, for one-" James raised his uncovered right hand, holding one finger up to make his point. His middle finger raised to join his pointer finger, "and secondly, he's openly _admitted_ to taking perks from employers. He probably does stuff like this all the time."

Junior froze. He inhaled deeply, feeling a deep well of anger beginning to build up in his stomach. Roman wasn't trying to take advantage of him, was he? No, that couldn't be it. He'd been the one to invite Roman over for food, not the other way around. Yes, Roman stayed there longer than he should have, but that didn't mean that Roman was trying to do anything malicious.

"No." Junior finally growled. "Look, you aren't listening, and I'm fine with that.  But just because you had a rough night doesn't mean that you get to be shitty to me. Nothing happened. I mean it."

The room went deathly quiet. Lin, who’d been standing in the kitchen well out of the way sighed heavily, and stepped forward. She stood between James and Junior, and looked between the two of them with a deeply hurt look in her eyes.

_Shit._

If there was any sign that the two of them had fucked up, it was that. James didn’t move to say anything for a moment. And when he finally spoke up, it was the most biting thing that he could have said in that moment.

“I’m going to my room.” James growled, picking up his cane and pushing past Lin towards the small hallway. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. If you can’t keep your dick in your pants, then fine. But I live here too.” He walked with his head hung low, the obvious sign that he wasn’t going to admit fault in this to anyone but himself.

The door closed behind James, and Junior was left alone in the kitchen. He looked at Lin, who stared back at him with sad green eyes. “Junior, I think it's best that I go." She kept her volume low, careful not to risk startling anyone by being too audible. "I believe you. Just give him space."

"I will mom." Junior said with a low sigh.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around Junior for just a moment in a warm hug before releasing him and going to the door where she slipped into her shoes and left the apartment with a small wave on the way out.

When the door closed behind her, Junior suddenly felt like he was more alone than he'd ever been before. It wasn't a good feeling, it made him feel sick to feel that way. He couldn't have messed up that badly, could he?

Nothing had happened between him and Roman.

They'd just slept in the same room for a few hours, and he was willing to bet that Roman had been trying to leave when Lin had arrived. Roman knew what him being there was going to look like, and that just let Junior feeling more worried.

The next time that he saw Roman, it was almost assuredly be at work, and if that was the case, he had absolutely no idea as to what it was going to be like. He didn't know whether James was going to handle having Roman around well.

He had a feeling that was going to be a definite no. There'd already been moments before, moments where Junior would notice James acting a little more stiff around Roman than usual, or like he felt like something was wrong but be completely unwilling to voice that fact.

Junior walked to the edge of the short hallway that led to the bathroom and the door to James' bedroom, and for a moment, Junior let himself stare at the stark white slab of wood that acted as James' bedroom door.

He should go and talk to him.

But he didn't want to.

James was a fighter, James would snarl and growl and even get physical if he was in the mood for it. Junior could do all of those things, but he never _wanted_ to do any of them. It wasn't him to fight like that.

He'd said it to Roman before.

In a ring there was no hard feelings, they were all there to fight for money, not for anything else. But now here in this apartment, they weren't fighting for money. They were fighting because James was angry, and that was so, so different.

This time, there were feelings involved.

Junior let himself put one foot in front of the other, beginning his advance to James’ bedroom door.

He didn’t want to do this.

He really, really didn’t want to do this.

Junior got close enough to the door that he could hear James on the other side, shifting about occasionally like he’d laid down in bed in hopes that it would make him feel better. On the other side of the door, Junior bit his lower lip and raised a large hand to knock.

Hesitated.

Controlled his breathing in hopes that it’d keep him calm.

Knocked.

He heard James shift on the other side of the door- he’d probably gone ahead and locked it. James didn’t do that much these days, but it gave him peace.

James’ voice.

_“What?”_

“Jim, can we talk?” Junior asked. It was too quiet, and then he heard the sound of James moving about in the bedroom. The sound of James’ uneven steps, accompanied by a third sound- the can. Junior swallowed as he realized that James probably wasn’t going to be willing to talk, whatsoever.

Junior heard the sound of the door being unlocked and had to hesitate for a long while before he finally knocked on it again. “Jim?”

“What is it?”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Junior steeled himself for whatever was going to be inside. He pushed the door open and peered in to see that James had already gotten back into bed.

James’ room wasn’t like most rooms, Junior knew that. Most people’s bedrooms had signs that they’d been lived in, but James’ room was more like a barrack or a hospital room. Junior knew that there was a reason for that- that James had simply never got used to living normally since…

Junior pushed the thought out of his mind before he could get too deeply stuck in it.

Most of the best furniture that the two of them owned was in James’ room. There was a standing closet that was kept closed, a nice chair that was in the corner of the room facing James’ room- a remnant from when James had first been able to come home.

Junior crossed the room and seated himself in that chair. He tried not to let his eyes stray over to where James’ cane was resting against the bedside table. Junior ended up clasping his hands together in front of him and leaning forward slightly before he finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry, James.”

James was too quiet. He just waited for James to say anything, not really sure what he intended to say to the other man. It was going to be awkward, and Junior had already accepted that fact. It was just a matter of getting through to James.

He watched James swallow visibly. “Junior I….” James looked away, out the window like he was afraid to meet Junior’s eyes. Like he was afraid of seeing any sort of judgement. “Why didn’t you send him home last night instead of-”

“I don’t know, James.” Junior admitted. “I didn’t think, and I messed up. I know that we agreed after the acci-”

“No visitors that aren’t family.” James cut him off. “And you broke that.”

Junior couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t had a role in breaking one of the agreements that the two of them had made. “I know.” He shook his head and sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry, James.”

“He saw, Junior.” James swallowed visibly. He still refused to look directly at Junior, which was more or less exactly what Junior had expected from James. However, there was something in James’ voice that almost sounded like James might cry, or break down, or _scream_ and Junior wasn’t sure which it would be- he just knew that he feared what it would be. “ _He saw._ ”

“Is that all it is?” Junior asked, not sure whether or not there was going to be anything else. He had a feeling that James’ problem went deeper than just Roman seeing James used the cane. There had to be more to it, there had to be greater issues at hand that James wasn’t willing to express.

“No.” James muttered. He shook his head, and Junior watched the way that James’ black hair flopped into his face for just a second. “ Roman, he-”

“Jim?” Junior leaned forward slightly in his seat.

James locked his lips, a sign that his nerves were at a high before he opened his mouth again to speak. "There's nothing wrong with him. He's..." James shook his head. “ _He’s too good._ ”

Junior blinked, unsure of what he was supposed to do or say. He had a feeling that James wasn’t going to let this go so easily. He wanted to get up and go to James’ side and try to offer comfort in what little ways that he could, but nothing came to mind.

“Junior, he’s come in and he’s just… he can do _everything_ and I can’t keep up-” James’ hands balled into fists before coming together in his lap.

"Are you saying that you don't like him becau-"

" _Yeah._ " James admitted. "I think I am."

“Oh.”

James looked away from the window for the first time in that conversation to look down at his own hands, and the way that his right one was exposed for the first time in a while, clutched in the left like it was inanimate, or a broken thing that needed to be handled with care and put back together. “You need to tell me that he isn’t replacing me.”

“He isn’t.” Junior said. “Is… is that what you’ve been worried about?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” James blinked. “It is. He’s… how am I supposed to keep up?"

Junior brought his hands up to his own face, and allowed himself to bury his face in them for just a moment as he did his absolute best to process what had just been said. It wasn't simple, and there probably wasn't going to be any easy way for him to navigate having both James and Roman around anymore. Not without risking James feeling like he was on the outs, or feeling like he was about to make his relationship with Roman even worse.

God, why did all of this have to be happening now?

"Jim-" Junior dropped his hands back down and away from his face. "You aren't going anywhere. I promise. I'm sorry about last night, I really am but-" He paused, brow furrowing with worry before he realized that these were probably not new feelings. "How long have you been worrying about this?"

"A while."

"How long is a while?"

"Long time." James answered, his expression hardening again. He looked back away from Junior and exhaled slowly as he stared out the window. "Look, is that all that you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah." Junior answered. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so." James mumbled. "I just want some space."

Understanding, Junior stood up, and took the furthest route away from James’ bed so that James could have some of that precious space. He stopped at the door and placed a hand on the door frame and hesitated, looking back at James over his shoulder for just a moment before opening his mouth to speak one last time.

"Just... yell if you need something?"

"I will."

Feeling something great and awful clutch at his chest, Junior simply nodded, and stepped out the door to James' bedroom. When the door was closed, he let himself stare up at the ceiling above him. He just let himself breathe for a few minutes, inhaling and exhaling and hoping that it would be enough to calm his heart rate down at the very least.

What a mess.


	15. Hot Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman that's filthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you all that there was a rating shift coming. It's here. Hope you all don't mind too much. 
> 
> Aside from that, comments are love <3

"Hey, Pumpkin, I've got an invite to The Platinum for tonight. I guess the owners wanted to have a burlesque night and they invited me over. Call me back and we can make it a date?"

Summer's voice was entirely too light on the other side of the phone. She sounded like she was completely oblivious to everything that as going on around her, or at least playing the part. It was like she didn't know that Roman had just sat through the single most difficult and awkward morning of his entire life.

He'd had one night stands that had been less awkward than that.

Worst of all, Summer _dared_ to exist as a _voicemail_ that had been sent sometime around four o'clock in the morning the night before.

He was going to have to call her back, but right now, Roman wasn't seeing making plans to go out to The Platinum with Summer as being something that was exactly on that top of his list of priorities. Right now, he just had to try and do his best to get over the supreme level of awkwardness that had been that morning.

There were a lot of things that he had been okay with that morning. He'd been okay with sleeping next to Junior, as awkward as it could have been, it wasn't. Well, it wasn't awkward on his end, at least. Maybe it had been weird for Junior, but Roman wasn't so sure that he wanted to speculate on how Junior was feeling right about now.

Things had been pretty tense when Roman had finally made his escape that morning.

So now, Roman sat on his bed at home- his large, empty, lonely bed, and he stared down at his phone, contemplating whether he actually wanted to call Summer back or not.  Or whether he just wanted to invite her over for an evening where they could just enjoy some ice cream or something else that was utterly terrible for them before and just vent about how _weird_ things were with Junior.

But he also knew that venting to her about Junior in that particular context probably wasn't such a good idea. They'd been through it before, talking about how they would love to do things with people that they'd been hired to help out, but in the end, Roman and Summer both always understood that the most that they'd be able to do is ogle and joke, and talk.

Never _do_.

But now, Roman was dancing along the line of breaking some of the biggest rules that he had to keep as someone who worked on a contractual basis as he did now. There wasn't going to be any escaping it.

There was a long list of things that had happened the night before that he really shouldn't have allowed to happen because they were now turning out to be actively detrimental.

For one, he probably should have made sure that he didn't get a hickey from that one red eyed guy at the club the night before. Because he knew that was probably one of the worst things that could have happened, and since James had noticed it, he was sure that he wasn't going to be able to live it down.

Secondly, he probably should have just accepted that he his diet was ruined and he should have gone and gotten some fast food instead of dragging himself to a twenty four hour grocery store.

He should have avoided Junior.

He shouldn't have taken the invitation to go to Junior's apartment.

He shouldn't have slept there.

He should have tried leaving earlier.

But he hadn't done _any_ of those things, and now he was sure Junior had absolute hell to pay for it. There was a small part of Roman that was telling him that he should just brace himself for a call from James looking to cut off their business relationship. He also expected that the next time he went to the gym, things would be a thousand times worse than it had been before.

God, that was the absolute last thing he wanted.

Roman stared down at the phone again, letting his thumb travel over the clean screen for a moment before turning it on and going into his messages, bringing up his latest text with Summer, in which the two of them had been discussing the city’s rather active nightlife the night before.

Hesitantly, Roman pressed his thumb to Summer's name and waited as his phone began to dial her number. He bowed his head and held his phone to his ear, listening for the first moment when she'd pick up and the two of them would be able to talk and make plans and maybe he'd be able to get past whatever had happened the night before with Junior.

Finally, Summer's voice was there on the other end of the line, sounding entirely too cheerful.

"Hello?"

"Hey there Sunshine." Roman said, realizing that he probably sounded like he was more than just a little bit exhausted at the moment, and reasonably so. He almost stumbled over his words as he came to realize that he didn't really know what he was supposed to say to Summer right now other than talk to her about the fact that there was a nightclub that they would have free admission into that night. Roman blinked twice, then started talking. "I just got your message."

"Did you have a long night?" Summer asked on the other sound of the line. "You sound like you just finished blowing a guy."

Shit, was his voice really that ragged?

"I..." Roman shook his head, reaching up with his free hand to rub at his throat for a moment. "Nah, I didn't. Just tired. Wanna come over and then we can talk about going to The Platinum tonight?" He looked down at his pants and dropped a hand so that he could idly run his finger over the fabric like he was tracing tiny designs onto his leg.

There was a sudden shift in tone as Summer realized that it was a definite possibility that Roman just wasn't feeling so hot at the moment. Almost immediately, she dropped her act and all of the playful pretenses. "Are you at home?" She asked, voice suddenly gravely serious. "Is something wrong, do you need something-"

"I don't think I need anything." Roman answered, blinking. "Can you just come over, I think I need to talk to someone about what's going on for a bit.

"I'll be right there, Pumpkin. Don't get all sad without me."

And then, as sudden as she'd picked up the phone, Summer hanged up, leaving Roman alone with his regrets once again.

He dropped his phone down onto his bed, where it bounced against the plush surface once before settling. Roman flopped back onto the mattress, and let his eyes slip shut, if only for a little while. When Summer arrived, she was going to be sure to call him to be let into the building anyways, so he could afford the nap.

He didn't sleep, not much, at least. He laid there amongst his pillows and blankets, and was almost off to sleep when he heard the sound of his phone going off, playing the loud, characteristically poppy sound that he kept set as Summer's ringtone. He sat up, ran a hand through his red hair, which he was sure was bound to be flying away in every direction at this point, and walked to the front door of his apartment.

He opened it, closed it behind him without bothering to put on any shoes, and he dragged himself down the stairs until he reached the door where sure enough, Summer was standing, dressed in a black pair of shorts and a patterned tank top. He opened the door, and she looked up at him immediately. She opened her mouth to say something, frowned, then closed it again.

"Hey." Roman said, offering her the first greeting. "I know I don't really look-"

"Roman, you look like shit." Summer reached out, taking Roman by the forearm with her own. "Are you feeling sick? Do you need water? Should I put you to-"

"I'm _fine_." Roman pulled away, flashing his best smile as he put some distance between himself and Summer again. "I just wanted to talk to someone for a bit about some of the things that are going on right now."

Summer nodded, and together the two of them walked up the stairs to Roman's apartment. Summer led the way in, taking the moment to slip out of her shoes before going in and finding Roman's couch, where she was happy to flop down and make herself comfortable. Roman soon joined her, folding his long legs up onto the couch under him as she settled.

"So." Summer began, eyes alight with what was probably a mixture of mischief and concern. "What's wrong, Pumpkin. Did you have a bad night at the club?"

"I..." Roman remembered the hickey on his neck, which he'd still failed to go ahead and clean up at all. "I mean, it's more what happened after the club that I'm worried about."

"So the hick-"

" _Is unrelated_." Roman cut Summer of before she got a chance to finish what she was saying. "Trust me on that. Completely unrelated."

"I'm not so sure I believe you, Roman Torchwick." Summer said proudly. "But as your friend I'm willing to believe you."

"Thank you." Roman shifted in his seat, tilting his head back against the back of the couch and letting his hair flop out of his eyes for once. "So I went to the club last night."

"As you are wont to do."

"Right. And I went home, and then I realized that I was really hungry. Like... starving. So I got up and I left."

"Roman, I don't need to hear a story about how you went cruising."

" _I didn't-_ " Roman felt a flush creeping up his face and tried to suppress it. "I went to the grocery store at like... four in the morning. I just really wanted some salad..." He paused and turned his head, making a point to look away from Summer before he could continue. Normally, he wouldn't have done this, but right now, he needed to turn off the intensity, if only for a little bit. "I ran into Junior there."

"Junior?" Summer tilted her body in her seat, trying to make eye contact with Roman. "Why was he-"

"Doesn't matter." Roman answered quickly, realizing that he probably didn't want to go ahead and proclaim to Summer that Junior had gone looking to buy aspirin at such an early time. "But we started talking, and he invited me over to his place to eat-"

"Roman what did you do-"

" _Nothing happened_!" Roman's voice raised a little along with his hands as he tried to wave away that particular piece of speculation. "Nothing happened at all, it's just that we went to his place, he made dinner, and we ate in his bedroom."

"Roman, I'm serious." Just like that, all of the playfulness that Summer had been carrying in her tone and movements shifted away. "Did you-"

"I didn't sleep with him." Roman winced. "I mean, I did but-" No. That was wrong. "I slept in his bed but I did not sleep with him in the biblical sense of the word."

"Oh my god." Summer said, leaning back into the couch the same way that Roman was and staring up at the same ceiling as he was, feeling equally exasperated. "Even if you didn't... Roman, that's bad."

"Right?" Roman answered. "So in the morning, I tried to get up, I tried to play the good little one night stand role and get out before he was awake. Not that anything happened, I just wanted to be out before he got up."

"And?"

"His mom was there." Roman sighed. "I think his mom and his brother might think he's gay now because of me. And normally I wouldn’t be bothered by that, but-"

"But you don't know him."

" _Exactly._ " Roman raised his hands up and covered his face with them, just for a moment. "And now I'm pretty sure they're going to fire me, and he's never going to want to see me again and I really do want him-"

“Okay, so Ro?” Summer said, reaching out and placing her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “I hate to say this, but you’re fucked.”

“I’m fucked.”

“Really, really fucked.” Summer confirmed. Her eyes softened, and she removed her hands from his shoulders, slowly sitting back down and making herself comfortable on the couch again. "Are you going to be ok, Roman?"

"I think so?" Roman answered, sounding not-at-all convinced. "I just don't want them to fire me over this whole thing." He reached up, and let his hands rest on his face, trying to shield himself from showing exactly how deep his eternal feelings of embarrassment went. At the tips of his fingers, he could feel the roots of his hair.

Summer shifted on the couch, cuddling in against Roman as best as she could and reaching her arms out to wrap around Roman. Gently, she squeezed him, hoping that it would help to ground him. "You know I still love you, right?"

"I do." Roman groaned, shifting his body and letting his head rest on Summer's shoulder. "I'm going to be sad if I don't get to see the hot boxer again."

"I know, Ro-Ro." Summer hummed. "I don't think that they're going to fire you."

"You don't?"

"I've been in the same room as them both, Roman." Summer began to explain. "I think that in the end, if Junior still wants you around, you'll be kept on. They need you. And they both know that."

Roman nodded, feeling almost like he understood what Summer was saying to him. Almost like he had a handle on what he was supposed to think or feel. "Thank you." He mumbled, looking up at Summer through his lashes, which were their normal ginger color as opposed to the black that they would have been had been wearing his mascara.

It almost felt alien.

Summer smiled, and pat Roman on the top of his head. "I think you need to get up, and get dressed." She proclaimed, proudly. "And put on your makeup, you look pale."

"Why do I have to get dressed?"

"Because you and I, Roman Torchwick, have free admission to The Platinum tonight, and you really need a night to forget about everything with the Xiong situation." Summer explained, shifting so that she was no longer wound around Roman. "And I can't be bringing anyone to the club if they aren't looking fantastic. I have a reputation to uphold."

That made Roman crack a smile. He pushed himself upright and stood up, taking just a moment to stretch and push his hair back out of his face with a smile. "You're right." He said, feeling like he'd almost gotten most of his confidence back. "I'm going to need a shower, forty minutes, and something good to eat."

"Want me to make you dinner?"

"Summer, you're a savior." Roman answered, not needing to go ahead and give a verbal affirmative since he was sure that he'd done more than enough to answer Summer's question. "Surprise me?"

"I always do."

"Thanks, Sunshine." Roman opened the door to his bedroom, and he was about halfway in when he looked back at Summer over his shoulder and winked at her. He saw her grin and shake her head, and then slipped through the door the rest of the way before pulling it closed behind him.

Now alone, Roman began to strip down, pulling off the dirty shirt that he'd worn the night before when he'd went out looking for his 4 am salad, and shimmying out of the loose sweats that barely hung off of his body.

He didn't bother to pick them up, instead letting them lie on the floor. He went to his closet and pulled the door open, immediately scanning over every article of clothing that was there. He needed to find something that he could wear and feel right in, especially when he was already feeling a little bit beaten down.

Usually, that called for leather pants.

Which he was quite sure he still had a pair of, even if they were hiding in the back of his closet just out of sight. Roman reached in, pushing a couple of hangers out of the way in hopes of finding what he was looking for. He was near the far left side of the closet when he finally found the pair of black leather pants that he wanted so desperately that night.

They were not particularly comfortable to wear, but this wasn't about feeling comfortable, this was about feeling confident. And he was willing to sacrifice comfort for confidence.

Roman pulled a black shirt that was going to be sure to show off his arms from the closet, knowing that it was one that fit him well and was bound to look good with the leather pants.

Pleased with his choices in clothing, Roman set them down on the bed and went to the bathroom, stripping out of his underwear on the way in.

He stood at the mirror for just a moment to admire his reflection, tilting his head just slightly as he got a good view of how he looked. He was thin, lightly muscled, and those damned freckles were standing out too strongly against the white of his shoulders.

For being without makeup, Roman looked damn good.

Roman winked at his own reflection in the mirror before stepping into the shower.

He turned on the hot water and let it run over him, leaning against the wall and letting his eyes flick shut as he let the water flow over him.

It was so warm.

Junior had been warm the night before too.

There was a part of him that wondered what Junior would think if he got to see Roman in his club clothes. What Junior would look like if he saw Roman wearing a pair of leather pants. Whether Junior would invite him home again for better reasons than eating rice early in the morning.

This was a dangerous train of thought to be on, Roman quickly realized.

His body was quick to affirm that fact.

Roman swore under his breath and looked down to find that yes, he did in fact have an erection.

Great.

_Fucking wonderful._

He frowned and let himself lean against the shower wall, and he just stared up at the ceiling above him, hoping that he'd be able to will this little problem away instead of having to change the shower temperature or handle it manually.

He might have stood there for a solid minute before he realized that he was going to have to resign himself to this or he was going to have to go ahead and change the shower temperature. And he really didn't want to have to change the shower temperature.

Roman tilted his head forward to look down at himself. He could deal with this himself. In one motion, he let himself lean forward against the wall, bracing himself against it with his left arm, which he allowed himself to pillow his head with. Slowly, Roman inhaled, and then let his eyes slip shut.

Images of Junior danced behind his eyes. He thought of everything from the night before. The way that Junior looked at home in his sweats, the way that he'd smelled, the way that he'd felt pressed against Roman's back.

Roman pressed his fingers to his side, letting them trail up the bare skin on his chest with the edges of his nails scraping his white skin. He let out a heavy sigh as he adjusted his stance to ensure that if he lost his footing, he couldn't fall and get hurt.

He imagined what Junior would look like if he were in that shower with him. Surely, they would be pressed chest to chest, and Roman would be able to tilt his head in towards Junior's neck and press kisses there, amongst his hair and tough skin, and _god_ that was way too much.

Roman stroked himself slowly, biting back cries the entire while. If he was too loud, Summer would hear him. If he was in the shower for too long, she would know what he was doing. But Roman stayed there in the shower nonetheless, slowly stroking himself and letting wave after wave of pleasure wash over him until finally he felt nothing, floating in a soft yet ultimately unsatisfying euphoria.

He opened his eyes, and let the water wash the results of this away from him. He pushed himself back off of the wall, and washed himself properly before going out to get dressed and to rejoin Summer in the real world.

On the way out of the shower, Roman looked in the mirror and he grimaced.

God, what had he done?


	16. Lavender Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lights, Camera

As it turned out, Summer _had_ figured out what he'd been doing, and for that one night, she wouldn't let him live that down. But to Roman, there was a small caveat, and it was that Summer didn't know _every_ specific of what had happened.

And if there was any saving grace in this shitty situation, it was that she couldn't tease him about the specifics of who he'd masturbated in the shower to.

Though Roman suspected she probably would have been able to guess.

A few days had passed since then, and to Roman's surprise, he didn't end up hearing a single word about whether his job was still secure or not. He'd expected a phone call, an email, a carrier pigeon, or even smoke signals would have worked - he was just expecting literally _anything_ to tell him what was going to happen.

But he got none, and so now, he was in his office, sending an email to the Xiong's Fitness official email and hoping that he'd get a response that told him whether he should bring a photographer to their practice late that night- or whether he should even bother showing up.

Roman had everything he needed in line to make things happen, it was just a matter of whether or not he was still welcome at this point.

For most of the day, Roman sat in his mostly empty office- Summer was in and out all day with a multitude of errands that needed to be done for her many clients, while Roman heard from barely any of his.

One of the problems with working mostly with nightlife.

Not that Roman really minded it that much.

At two in the afternoon, Roman finally got a response. This one wasn't from James, as was the norm, but was rather from Junior, who seemed to only go out of his way to reassure Roman that he could come in that night, and that his photographer was also welcome.

It wasn't the most ideal answer that Roman could have gotten from Xiong's, but he was more than willing to take it. He picked up the phone and called his good friend Lisa Lavender, who he'd worked with before on almost every job that he'd ever taken. Weddings, nightclubs, parties- if you needed a photographer to come up and help you out, Lisa Lavender would _always_ be there to make it happen.

Nobody was more dependable.

Lisa answered her phone cheerfully, and it sounded like she was outdoors when she picked up. "Good evening, Mister Torchwick." She said, her voice light. "What can I do for you today?"

"Hello beautiful." Roman greeted the woman. "I was wondering if I could get your company tonight at that gym that I talked to you about. They need someone to take some photos for them and they'll have their whole team in tonight. Wanna join me?"

"I'll be there." Lisa answered. "Seven?"

"It’s a date." Roman chirped back. "I'll see you."

"You always do." Without so much as a goodbye, Lisa hung up the phone and the line went dead. Roman smiled, turned in his chair, and set his phone back down on its receiver before going to back to what little busywork he had to carry him through the rest of the day.

At five o'clock that evening, Roman was able to leave the office, and drive home so that he could get himself into clothing that actually belonged in a gym as opposed to his casual business wear that he was stuck in during the day hours.

God, he really wasn't looking forward to having to see Junior again.

The fact that James would probably be there made the trip even less favourable in Roman's eyes.

He just didn’t want to deal with how cagey James tended to be.

Dressed to learn to fight again, Roman drove out to Xiong's Fitness, not sure at all about what he was going to get there and see. He pulled up into the parking lot and parked next to the car that he'd seen there the night he'd gone out for gyros with Summer and Junior- he guess it was James’, and got out.

Roman lifted a hand to brush his hair back out of his face on the way in. He pushed the front door open, and slid in alongside the trophy case at the front. For just a moment, he let his eyes slide over the things inside, recognizing for the first time what he was looking at.

Photographs, James, Junior, and a third man that Junior closely resembled and somehow managed to dwarf him. The man, dressed to fight with his face bruised and a trophy balanced between his gloves.

History.

Love.

Family.

For almost a moment, Roman was jealous, but he peeled his eyes away to look towards the front of the gym, where sure enough, that ring was standing, tall and proud, with two fighters inside. This time, it was a short man with greying hand going toe to toe with the black haired woman that'd seen there a few times before.

If he remembered correctly from their last meeting, they were named Peter and Raven.

Roman stood out of the way, leaned against the wall, and just watched as the two sparred. He let his arms cross over his chest, and drank the sights in the entire time. Raven was brutal, Peter was strong. And they weren't playing, every strike was completely audible from where he stood against the wall.

It was fascinating to watch. It wasn't brutality, it was almost dance like watching how the two of them moved around each other, and for just a moment, Roman understood what the big deal was. For just that moment, he was actually interested.

For just that moment, boxing made sense to him.

The blonde boxer that he now knew to be Taiyang Xiao Long sidled up alongside Roman, leaned against the wall next to him, and with a big, goofy grin on his face, he spoke up. "She looks good, right?"

Roman blinked, and looked over at Taiyang, whose bruise had healed most of the way, now just looking like a yellow stain against his face. Roman’s eyes flicked up to the ring, to Raven, then back to Taiyang. "Yeah, she does." Roman answered after a long moment. He offered the other man his hand. "Roman Torchwick."

"Taiyang." The blonde answered, giving Roman's hand a quick, strong shake. "So, you're kind of scrawny. I'm guessing you're here to meet with James?"

"I- what?" Roman asked, blinking. He turned his eyes onto Taiyang.

"Yeah, he's not in, so I don't know if you're supposed to be here." Taiyang blinked twice, staring up at the ring, with his eyes trained on Raven the entire time. It was silent between them, and then Taiyang spoke up again, like he'd just realized something about the situation. "Wait, I've seen you before."

Roman shook his head, his orange hair falling back into his face with the motion. "Yeah, I was in last week."

"With the cute girl, right?" Taiyang turned, waving a finger in Roman's direction. "Yeah, Teddy was teaching you, wasn't he?"

"Yeah." Roman said, shaking his head again and grinning. "And I'm actually here to see Junior, is he in?"

"He's in the office, I think." Taiyang said. "He let us take over for a bit while he got ready for our official training."

"Thanks, Taiyang." Roman said, pushing himself off the wall and walking away from the muscular blonde towards the office in the back that he'd spent so much time in over the course of the last two weeks. He reached the office door and immediately he lifted a hand to knock on the door, hoping that Junior would hear him on the other side.

"What is it?" The man on the other side called through the door. His voice was too smooth, Roman realized. _Shit_ , he wasn't ready for this.

"It's Roman." Roman called back through the door. "Care to talk when you're ready?"

"You can come in!" Junior answered. "We can talk now."

It wasn't what Roman had expected, but he reached out and turned the door handle nonetheless before stepping inside of Junior's office. Junior was half-bent over the desk, shirtless, like he'd only gotten half-dressed before getting distracted with something.

Roman froze as a rush of thoughts about how many terrible things could be done over that desk filled his head.

He pushed it back.

Roman closed the door behind him and did his absolute best not to look at Junior too intensely. "So, I've got a photographer coming tonight for you.

"Oh?" Junior asked, finding a shirt and pulling it on quickly. Roman managed to hide any disappointment. "Is that going to work out for us?"

"It should." Roman answered. "She's the best I know, if there's anyone I trust with this job, it's her."

The room was silent, then Junior spoke up.

"I'm sorry about last weekend."  Junior said as he flopped back down into the office chair that James normally occupied. "I didn't expect for my mother to show up."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Roman answered. "I should have left earlier, it's not your fault."

"So, you had an ad you wanted me to look at?" Junior asked, looking around the desk and trying to find the folder that Roman had sent with James on Friday to be looked at. He found a manila folder and held it up in Roman's view.

"Should be in there." Roman said, stepping around the side of the desk and leaning against the edge of it. "It's my handiwork, I hope you like it."

Junior flipped the folder open and looked at what was inside, looking over what was there for a long moment. His mouth dropped open a little bit as he looked over what was in there, and that was when Roman knew that his advertisement was mostly ready.

"It's..."

"Great." Roman finished Junior's sentence with a smile, shaking his head a little bit as he looked down at his shoes. "I know." Roman cocked his head and looked up to make direct eye contact with Junior. "Think it's good enough?"

"I want it."

Roman exhaled slowly, glad to hear Junior’s verdict on his work. He'd been worried after such a long wait for an answer on it, that nobody had liked it. Knowing that wasn't the case, and the truth was closer to them just not getting around to it was a huge relief.

Junior set the folder down on the desk and flipped it shut, like he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do now that that issue had been taken care of. He blinked, rolled his shoulders, and looked across the room at Roman.

The redhead's breath hitched in his throat when he realized that Junior's eyes had flicked over him for just a moment.

"So," Junior said, a slow smile stretching across his face. "Did you want another lesson before your photographer showed up or-"

Roman looked down at himself and shrugged, not really sure what he was supposed to say. "Well," he started. "I figured if I'd come out I should at least look the part. Why, is it a good look on me?"

_Stupid._

"Yeah." Junior answered, seeming halfway oblivious to what was happening. "How about that lesson?"

"Sounds great." Roman deadpanned. He pushed himself off of the desk and into a standing position and stretched, bringing his arms up behind him. His face even screwed up a bit as he felt his muscles contract. "What do I need?"

"We'll be on the bag." Junior answered. "You're a little too small for me to spar with, and people that would be more your size are busy."

Roman had to fight to stop himself from saying something dumb that would be too incriminating this time around. He'd already said things that he regretted that evening, and adding something like directly telling Junior something along the lines of _'I'm sure you're plenty my size'_ was _not_ something that he wanted to add to his list of regrets.

"Right." Roman forced a smile, trying to hide his discomfort. "We'll do it."

_Goddamnit, Roman._

"Cool." Junior said with a smile. He hop-walked to the door of the room, and when Roman looked down he realized that Junior was probably getting ready for a fight of his own, though Roman couldn't guess what it would be.

The two of them went out to the side of the main room, where Junior was quick to set up a bag and get Roman into some cushioned gloves before he had to rush over to the ring, where he needed to make sure that things were alright between Raven and Peter.

Roman didn't do anything to the bag at first, instead he just watched as Junior rushed around the gym trying to get as many things in line as he could.

It almost made Roman feel bad, having to watch the guy scramble to keep things afloat the way that he did. Normally, Junior had help, but today, he was off on his own. Roman stood by the bag, looked down at his gloved hands, and stripped off the padded gloves before going to walk up to Junior's side. He caught the man by the laundry room, and immediately put himself in Junior's path.

"You need help." Roman deadpanned, as though it were the single most obvious thing that he could have possibly said to Junior. He looked back over his shoulders to make sure that nobody had come in, then looked back up at Junior to lock eyes. "Tell me what you need help with."

" _What-_ "

"You're scrambling." Roman said, straightening up. "Boxing lessons can wait. Lisa Lavender is coming here in an hour and you need someone to make sure that this place is presentable, and you can't juggle all of this on your own." Roman looked back over his shoulder again to see whether anyone was watching them, then decided to keep talking. "So tell me, what can I do to make this easier on you?"

Junior's jaw dropped open, for for just a moment the guy looked like he might have actually been afraid of Roman for that moment. He closed his mouth again, looked around the gym, and then back down at Roman. Junior lifted up what he needed- a pile of towels, and waved Roman after him with one motion before leading the smaller man through the gym until they were at a particular broom closet.

Junior fumbled for his keys and unlocked the door, pulling it open to reveal what was inside. "Can you clean?"

"Can I-" Roman sounded incredulous, and gestured to himself to point out that he was _the cleanest person you would ever meet, thank you very much._ "Of course I can clean."

"Good." Junior answered. "Can you just take a broom-"

"Yeah." Roman reached into the closet, grabbed a broom, and turned to look the area over. "If you need me to do something, just shout."

"Thank you." Junior breathed, already hurrying off back towards the ring. Roman reached up, pushed his red hair back out of his face, and put himself to work. By the time he was through with this gym, it was going to be absolutely _immaculate_.

Junior couldn't afford anything less than that.

And so Roman did just that. He went through the gym, sweeping the floors as best as he possibly could, even going over certain places two or three times until they looked perfect. It wasn't fun work, but it was a workout at the very least. One that would last for an hour until the front door opened and a woman stepped through.

She was about five feet, five inches tall, with purple hair that was cut into a clean bob aside from one stand that insisted on sticking up. Realizing who it was, Roman leaned his broom against a wall and rushed to the front of the building to greet Lisa Lavender with a smile.

"Lisa!" He called, catching the woman's attention. "I'm so glad you were able to make it out here."

"Roman." The woman greeted him, eyes flicking over him and an eyebrow raising in interest.

“Always good to see you.” Roman said, stepping away and facing towards the ring, where Junior was trying to re-fasten one of the cords that were on the side of the ring. "So, our man's the one fixing the ropes, we'll just need to talk to him for a few minutes and then I think that you and I will be good to go ahead and start staging some photos."

"That sounds... excellent." Lisa replied, following after Roman after the man picked up his broom so that he could put it back away where it belonged on the way to see Junior. She followed after him, letting her eyes travel around the building as she looked for something that Roman was sure he was going to be unable to name. Lisa was going to be looking for the best lighting, the best scenery.

"Hey, Junior!" Roman called, raising a hand up in the air to catch the larger man's attention as he crossed the gym. On the ring, Junior fastened the ropes in place and then looked out over the room. Some of the boxers had turned their heads to look at him, and he did his absolute best to pay them no mind. He already didn't belong here anyways, so it wasn't exactly like he could make things worse for himself.

Junior stepped down from the ring, and it should have been a hop, but he made his way to solid ground and stood upright. Roman watched as he smoothed down his clothes and navigated his way out from amongst chairs and benches until he was in a clear area so that he could reach Lisa and Roman safely. Once he was out of the thick of the mess, he walked over to Roman and sighed.

"What is it?"

Roman looked at Lisa, then up at Junior. "Lisa, this is Junior. He owns the place."

Lisa looked Junior up and down. Roman silently wondered what she was thinking, because he didn't know whether or not she was judging Junior based on the appearance of the gym as well as how he looked, or whether she was considering whether she wanted to put Junior in the middle of her photographs. With Lisa, Roman had never really been able to tell what she was looking for when she looked at someone.

Finally, Lisa reached forward to offer Junior her hand. "Pleasure." She offered, looking around the room again. Junior seemed to hesitate for a moment,but then he reached out and took Lisa's hand in his, giving it a quick shake. When they finally pulled away, Lisa turned slightly so that she could get the best look at the ring. "This really isn't your typical thing, Roman. I'm a little surprised."

"Yeah." Roman chuckled. "I know it's different from what I usually do." He shook his head, and then looked up at Junior. "Do you have plans for the photos?"

Junior opened his mouth, unsure of what he wanted to say, and then closed it again. He turned his head now, looking at the two boxers who were climbing up into the ring. It was Taiyang and Raven, and to Roman, they looked like they were at their absolute best. "I figured I'd just let her... do her thing?" Junior sounded so unsure, and Roman thought for just a moment that it was actually kind of cute the way he said that. Usually, this would have been James' realm, Roman figured.

But now Junior was on his own, and so he probably didn't have the slightest clue as to what he was actually doing. Roman almost felt bad about it, but he was going to do his best to help Junior along.

Lisa sighed heavily and pushed her loose strand of hair down and out of the way so that she could concentrate. She looked around the room and found a small table that was pressed against the wall. She set down a briefcase that she was carrying, opened it, and removed a camera from it. She was careful, rolling it about her hands and attaching lenses until she was sure that she was ready.

She turned, faced Junior and Roman and gestured up to the ring. "If you could just get them going, that would be excellent."

Roman looked at Junior and raised an eyebrow. "Can you-"

"Absolutely." Junior rushed off to the office, leaving Roman alone with Lisa.

Lisa looked at Roman for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but Roman didn't let her get going. "I know." He said, quietly. "I know."

"It's a mess, Roman." She whispered. "Why did you take this job?"

"I don't know." Roman said with a sigh. "I wanted a challenge so I took one. This is what I got."

Lisa nodded, and soon Junior was stepping out of the office wearing the black and white striped sweater that looked very similar to the one that James had worn a week before when Roman had come in. He got up into the ring, and began taking a moment to make sure that both Taiyang and Raven were ready to fight, and also making sure that both of them were properly equipped for a fight.

It was several minutes before Junior was stepping off to the side of the ring, and he blew into a whistle. All at once the two fighters set to motion, as did Lisa. She was carefully navigating around the room, doing her best to capture every blow, every angle, and every motion. Which left Roman to the side, watching silently as everything played out.

The entire world bled together, and for that time, Roman was content to just watch. He didn't have much that he was able to do, all that he could do was do his best to make sure that everyone was comfortable. For the first time that day, Roman became highly aware of the fact that he didn't belong there at all. He wasn't strong, he didn't have much that he could do, he didn't even know the rules of the ring well enough to be of any use to the others.

What the hell was he doing here?

Instead of getting mixed up in the middle of Lisa’s photography except in the cases where she needed him to move something, Roman just stood off to the side, quietly wondering if there was anything that he was supposed to do. Anything that he should have done.

That question was only answered when he ended up with Lisa at his side, checking through the photos that she’d taken like she would find something incredibly helpful there. She stopped alongside him, and didn't even bother to look over at Roman the entire time, until she was speaking up herself. "I  think I've got the shot." She muttered, almost completely engrossed in her work. "I'll send it all to you as soon as I get home. I trust you can touch them up yourself?"

"I always do." Roman answered, shooting the woman a devious smile. "Thank you for your time, Lisa."

"Don't mention it, Roman." Lisa said. "I'll send you a quote with the pictures."

"Please do."

The night was already winding down, and Junior finally stepped down from the ring and crossed the gym to join Roman and Lisa. "How did you-"

"I got the shot, Mister Xiong." Lisa said, putting her camera away. "I'll be sending everything to Roman, I trust he'll be able to make sure everything ends up in your hands.”

"I-" Junior hesitated, shot Roman a half-scared look, and cracked a smile. "Of course. Thank you."

"It's no problem." Lisa said as she set her camera down in its case. Junior, realizing that the woman wasn't particularly interested in talking, turned to Roman.

He coughed, sounding a little bit unsure, and for just a moment Roman actually felt bad for the poor guy. Junior looked nervous, despite the fact that this was his gym, despite the fact that he should have been more than comfortable there.

"So, Roman," he started. "Do you still want a lesson or-"

Roman frowned, thinking on the question and whether or not he had a good answer for Junior or not. As much as he liked spending time with Junior, and wouldn't mind the chance to get close to the larger man, he wasn't actually sure whether he was actually feeling up to a workout at this point.

He supposed that he could have said yes, and they could have started once the gym started to clear out for the night, but there was also always the strong possibility that Junior was exhausted after a day of managing the gym.

"Do you want to teach me?" Roman finally responded. "Because you look exhausted."

"I mean, I don't mind?"

Roman hesitated, thinking it over one more time before he said anything again. "How about this-" He started, "I could kill for a meal."

"You want to order something?"

"I was thinking more like we'd go out and get something." Roman answered. "I'm not a huge fan of takeout. I have a figure to maintain."

Junior chuckled, and oh it was a sweet sound. "Well, you know what would help you with that-"

"I don't want to be a muscular monster, thank you." Roman responded, fighting back a laugh and actually feeling his cheeks heat up just a little bit. "How about it though?"

"Yeah." Junior smiled into the word. "Food sounds good. But do you mind if we swing by my apartment first?"

"Not at all." Roman answered. "Why, you need a shower?"

"Something like that." Junior answered. "Can you just... wait for a bit, and then we'll go?"

"Not a problem." Roman said, taking a seat as Junior hurried off somewhere, probably looking to make sure that his team was doing alright. He leaned against the wall next to Lisa, and the two of them made some chitchat before she had to leave herself. Roman didn't mind, she was a busy woman.

Slowly, the gym began to clear out, with Taiyang shooting him a wide smile and a wave on the way out, and he could hear Raven talking to Peter about some movie that the both of them had seen in recent weeks.

And then, the gym was empty aside from him and Junior.

Exhausted, sweating Junior.

Admittedly, it was a good look on him.

Roman seated himself on a bench, and crossed his legs under him as he waited. It might have been an hour, and by the time they were about to leave, Roman's stomach was screaming at him in hunger. Junior approached him, now dressed normally, and looked down at him with a nice smile.

"Ready?"

"Absolutely."

And with that, the two of them were out the door.


	17. Tossing The Salad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Innuendos.

Junior led the way to the apartment in his and James’ shared car, and when he pulled into the parking lot, he was glad to see that Roman already parking his. He wondered for a moment if Roman would insist that they took the tiny convertible or not, and secretly, Junior dreaded it. He didn’t like how cramped he tended to feel in the vehicle. But it wasn’t practical to take two cars out for food. 

Roman looked up at him with a light in his green eyes. "So what are we stopping here for?"

"I need to check up on..." Junior hesitated and looked over at the apartment. "I don't think I'm allowed to say, really."

"Ah." Roman answered, not sure that he wanted to pry any further on the matter. "I won't ask too many questions then."

"Thank you." Junior said, his voice quiet. The two of them went to the door, and made their way upstairs until they were outside of the apartment where Junior knew James was going to be inside, probably lying on the couch feeling completely exhausted.

James hadn’t been feeling well that morning- something about his arm and his hip. Not to mention the fact that he was almost for sure still recovering from being knocked out. 

Oh, bringing Roman up was probably a  _ very _ bad idea.

He hesitated, and looked at Roman instead of reaching for the door handle. "Do you mind if you... stay out here for a minute?"

Roman blinked, not really sure why that particular request was being sent his way, but he didn't want to question it too much. "Just don't leave a guy waiting too long." Roman said, flashing that  same smile that he always did when he wanted something.

That was concerning.

Junior smiled back, opened the door and stepped into the apartment. On the couch, James was half-curled up, as Junior had expected. The man looked up at him, bags under his eyes and that bruise on his jaw was trying to heal.

Unlike normal, James wasn’t wearing a heavy shirt that covered up his entire body. When he was home alone, he never had to. Junior couldn’t help the worry biting at the back of his mind. James opened his mouth to speak, but Junior just waved it off.

"I'm going out for dinner with Roman," Junior began to explain himself. "Do you need me to get anything?"

James shot him a look that looked almost hurt, and Junior had to wonder whether it was coming from something physical, or whether it was something else that was making James look that way. He figured that James had spent the whole day alone. James’ words all but confirmed it.

"Couldn't you just... stay in?" James asked, quietly, like he was working through a haze of painkillers to even get those words out.

Junior frowned, scrambling to figure out whether there was a correct way to navigate this or not. Roman was standing outside, and he couldn't be sure that James would be amiable to the man staying there for a meal.

_ Especially _ considering what had happened over the weekend.

Junior exhaled lowly, then spoke up finally. "Roman's just outside, and I think he wants to make up for me cooking for him... would you be okay with him being here?"

James was quiet, weighing his options carefully. "If it means I don't have to be alone here, yes." James muttered finally. "Would you get me a shirt though? And my..." James gave his right hand a defeated wave.

"Of course."

Junior walked off in the direction of James' bedroom, and stepped inside before making a beeline for the closet. He pulled open one of the drawers, found a light shirt like the ones that James would wear out in the ring, and grabbed it, shutting the drawer with the back of his heel. He grabbed one of James’ gloves off of the bedside table, and then he went back to the living room.

James reached out with his left arm, and Junior safely deposited his shirt there. The two of them exchanged a look, then Junior spoke up again. "Is it okay for me to let him in?

"Yeah." James said, pulling the garments on with slight difficulty. "Let him in."

It was barely half a minute before Junior was at the door, pulling it open, and letting Roman into the apartment. At the door, he pulled off his shoes, and flashed Junior a grin. "So, what'll it be to eat?"

"I don't know." Junior answered. "Do you mind staying here instead of going out?"   


Roman considered it, and then looked between James and Junior. "I mean, I don't particularly mind. I was kind of hoping to get some salad but-"

"There's salad in the fridge." James cut in, his eyes closed as he mumbled the words, just loud enough that Roman could hear. His blue eyes opened, and James focused his eyes onto Roman wit a slow roll of his head before he looked at Junior. "Your mother came by."

"What did she want?" Junior asked, curious.

"She was worried." James said, quietly. And then even quieter. "You know how she is."

Roman, on the other hand, seemed like he was a little bit dumbstruck by what James had said. Like he really didn't know what he was supposed to think anymore. "You guys have salad?"

"It's healthy." James said back.

Junior shrugged, and looked down at Roman now. "What do you think?"

"Well, since you two have salad, I'm good with staying in. But I'm buying you two dinner, I feel like I owe you after the weekend." Roman looked at James, then at Junior, then back to James again. "Mind if I join you on the couch, handsome?"

Junior watched a slow blush rise on James' face, and James simply nodded to Roman as his response. Pretty quickly, the three of them were convened in the living room, and James was reaching for the phone to pass off to Junior when they decided what they wanted to get.

Roman leaned back into the couch, and Junior watched as his eyes scanned the living room for the first time, like he was looking for something in particular there that didn't necessarily exist there. Or like he was realizing that he didn't belong there, the same way that Junior had felt when he'd first gone out for food with Roman and Summer.

In a way, Roman almost felt human when Junior realized that. Less like an unattainable paragon of a person, and more like someone with worries.

James spoke up, quietly. "Pizza sounds good." He offered.

"Should you-"

"I'm on so many painkillers right now that I don't care, Junior." James answered. His eyes slide over to Roman. "You okay with that?"

Roman nodded, then looked up at Junior for a confirmation that all of them were on board with this particular meal idea. Junior shrugged, pizza didn't really sound like the absolute worst thing that he could have eaten at the moment.

Besides, it _would_ be pretty filling.

"Just figure out what you two want, and I'll make the order." Junior offered, crossing one leg over the other. James shot him a look that silently said  _ 'you know what I want _ ,' and Roman's brow screwed up as he thought about whether or not there was anything special that he wanted to get or not.

Roman exhaled slowly, smiled up at Junior, and spoke. "How about you just order a small cheese for me? I don't think I mind skipping out on my diet too much tonight."

Junior's eyes widened when he realized what Roman was doing. His eyes shot back to James for a moment, to see that James had probably figured it out as well, and then Junior nodded. "If you're sure."

Junior earned a smile from the thinner man and stood up with the phone in his hand, and left the room to make the order. It was a little bit disconcerting, knowing that James was alone with Roman right now.

He knew how James could be, and he also had a good idea as to how Roman could be. After he finished making the order, Junior let himself pause just outside the living room and listen in on what was going on on the other side of the wall.

To no surprise of Junior's, the two of them weren't really talking about was going on, and he figured that was probably by design. If James was in pain, which he almost undoubtedly was, then he wasn't going to give Roman any ins.

And giving Roman ways to figure you out didn't exactly seem like the best idea, Junior realized. He wondered how much Roman had dissected him so that he'd know how to get Junior to work with him.

It was almost scary.

Almost.

Junior came back in, and Roman looked back up at him with those vivid emerald eyes. "Food ordered?"

"It is." Junior confirmed. He looked across at James, who hummed quietly. "I got extra Parmesan, hope that's good with you?"

"That's excellent." James said, pushing himself so that he was a bit more upright. Junior glued his eyes to James' face, trying to check for pain, and caught a slight wince as James pushed himself to his feet.

From between the side of the couch and a small table that held the lamp, James' cane appeared. James hesitated, looked at Junior, then at Roman. "C'mon." He said, nodding in Roman's direction. "Let's get you that salad."

Roman shot Junior a look, and Junior just shrugged, raised a hand, and gestured Roman over towards the kitchen. Roman got up and followed after the hobbling James until they were in the kitchen.

James stopped by the fridge and leaned against the counter for a moment as he pulled it open and reached in, pulling out a large Tupperware container of salad.

Junior didn't even have to look at it to know what was going to be inside. His mother had a particular mix that she'd always liked making- one that was heavy on spinach and always ended up with homemade croutons.

The container made its way onto the counter, and James reached back into the fridge to pull out a few bottles of salad dressings, including one jar that was unlabeled and contained the results of what was likely one of James’ cooking experiments.

"There." James breathed, pushing the fridge door back closed. Junior saw the man moving to get bowls, and stopped James with a wide hand on the chest.

"Go sit back down." Junior half-ordered. "You need to rest. I'll get you your damn salad."

James shook his head, leaning on the cane, and then looked at Roman. "Just get whatever you like, alright?" His voice was too quiet. He turned, and slowly, he began to hobble his way back to the living room.

Which left Junior and Roman alone in the kitchen. Junior searched one of the drawers for some salad tongs and pulled them out so that he could begin filling the three bowls with greens.

"So he's awful..." Roman started, and paused, like he didn't know what the best thing to say was.

"Let me guess?" Junior chuckled. "Nice?"

"Yeah." Roman answered. "Is he-"

"He's mostly fine by the sounds of things. Just hurting." Junior answered, passing the first two bowls of salad off to Roman. "Bring those into the living room? I'll be in with dressing and forks in a minute."

Roman shot him a smirk, and winked, and Junior braced himself for whatever was going to come next, since he already had a feeling that he'd walked into whatever Roman was about to say to him.

"Thanks for tossing my salad, big guy."

_ Yup _ .

That was basically what Junior had expected from Roman. "Please go." Junior laughed nervously. Roman left the kitchen and Junior was left completely alone now.

He inhaled slowly, trying to put his head together as he grabbed up the last few things that would inevitably be needed for their food. Junior grabbed silverware, a roll of paper towels, and a bottle or two of salad dressing and made his way back into the living room, where he saw that Roman had taken a place on the floor across from James, who had laid down in a way so that he could have his right leg lifted up onto the couch.

"Hey." Junior greeted the two of them as he set the things that he'd brought in on the coffee table. He took a seat on the far side away from James, so that he couldn't bother the other man.

The three of them finished preparing their meals, and then Roman spoke up, his eyes darting between James and Junior. "So." The redhead started, doing his best to toss his salad with his fork. "I'm curious. Am I allowed to ask about-" Roman pulled his fork out from the salad and gestured between the two of them with the handle, "-this whole thing? Because I'm curious."

Junior stiffened, and looked over at James, looking for permission to answer Roman's question. He got a small nod, though he quickly realized James' jaw was tight.

Then finally, Junior spoke up. "Well, I told you that we're brothers."

"But..." Roman frowned, looking for the most sensitive way to say something. "But you're different…?" Roman didn’t finish the sentence. 

"I'm adopted." James said, as bluntly as one could say something like this. It made Junior feel like he could breathe a small sigh of relief. If James was the one leading the conversation, then it hopefully couldn't be derailed. "They took me in when I was 12."

"Yeah." Junior said, shrugging. "That."

"Huh." Roman commented, looking down into his salad now. "I didn't expect that, really. I expected you were half-brothers or something."

"Nope." James said, sighing. "I grew up in the system, and they took me in. That's all there is really."

Junior let his eyes slide from James, who was just looking down into his bowl of salad, then over to Roman, who seemed to have paused a bit. The redhead was sitting there, with his fork in his hand and looking down into his bowl with wide eyes. It was awkward, and Junior really didn't know what he was supposed to do or say. This was kind of an important conversation to have, Junior knew that, but it was awkward nonetheless.

Quietly, Roman spoke up. "Me too." He murmured, just loud enough for James to hear. James looked up, and their eyes met. James opened his mouth to say something, but Roman waved it away so that things wouldn't have to get too uncomfortable. "I grew up in the system too."

James looked down into his bowl of food again. He sighed, like he wanted to talk about this stuff, but he didn't say anything about it. Junior shouldn't have been surprised by that, but he was. James shook his head, a weird smile crossing his face- the sort of awkward smile that belonged to someone that was uncomfortable with a conversation instead of someone that was open to talking about things.

"Is... is everything okay?" Roman asked, his voice quiet and his and James' eyes meeting. "I mean-"

"It's just..." James looked away from Roman, his jaw tight, then looked back to Roman again. "You're so... well adjusted."

Roman blinked, like he didn't know what that meant. "Uh... Thank you." Roman said back, flashing James a weak smile.

"So..." Junior began, not really sure how to bring himself up to conversation. "...Are you two going to start getting along well or...?"

James and Roman exchanged a look, and Junior noted that neither of them spoke up. James looked like he wanted to shrink away, and Roman was sitting there with his eyes down turned. James spoke up quietly, finally. "Maybe." He mumbled.

"I still have a lot of questions." Roman said, looking between James and Junior. "But I'm not sure that I should ask."

"Go for it." James said, rubbing at his eyes again. "I'm on so many painkillers I might not remember most of this later." He mumbled.

Roman looked at Junior, asking silently whether he was allowed to ask or not. Junior had a feeling what it would be about, but he knew that if that was in fact that topic that Roman wanted to bring up, then James wasn't going to answer questions about it.

Some things were just too painful.

James looked at Junior, and for just a moment, their eyes met. Junior nodded to his brother, and James looked back away and sighed. "Go ahead." He said to Roman, their eyes meeting. "Ask."

"The cane."

"I hurt one of my legs." James answered. "Next question."

"Glove."

"Hurt one of my arms." James repeated, though he sounded like his teeth were gritted. "Next question." He half-growled the words.

Roman blinked, and looked at Junior again, like he was asking for permission to keep going. Junior shook his head, hoping that he'd be able to keep Roman from overstepping too far when the phone rang. Junior picked up the phone, and heard the sound of the voice on the other side of the line announcing that the pizza had arrived. Junior nodded, stood up, and hung up the phone.

"I've gotta go." Junior said, sighing and looking between Roman and James. " _ Please _ be good."

With that, Junior left the apartment, and he was stuck with his own thoughts as he began the walk down to the parking lot where he'd inevitably have to get the pizza. He patted his pocket on the way down, checking that his wallet was there, and then went down to get the pizza. It was weird, though, Junior thought. The last time that he'd had both James and Roman in the apartment, it had ended with James ready to tear throats out.

But now, it was so different. He wondered whether or not James would be willing to work well with Roman now. He'd noticed some clashing in the offices before, and his last conversation with James had confirmed that there was at the very least a reason that James was acting and feeling the way that he did. 

Junior knew that he should probably talk to Roman about the topic at some point, but at the same time he also knew that there wasn't exactly a good way to go about breaching it.

Some things were just that hard to come out and say, he supposed.

Junior made his way down to the parking lot, where he found the delivery driver and paid for their meals. Once he finished, Junior stopped at the stairs to confirm that yes, what they'd received was in fact what they ordered, and then turned to go back up the stairs to the apartment. On the way, Junior decided to stop and take the elevator instead of walking up the stairs and risking ruining their meals.

Junior wasn't at all prepared for what he came back to.

When he opened the door, he'd halfway expected to hear James and Roman bickering about something. Instead, he opened the door to find James with Roman on the couch beside him, with his right hand clutched in Roman's.

"-can feel pressure but that's about it." James’ voice was deathly quiet. "Temperature tends to be a bit... off."

"No texture? That's so-"

"Guys?" Junior asked, catching both of their attention. James immediately jerked away from Roman, already moving to cover the hand back up in embarrassment, and Roman moved as far away from James as he could on the couch. The two of them didn't look at each other, which left Junior with the awkward task of delivering the pizzas to the coffee table. "Is everything-"

"Everything's fine." James murmured, scooting forward slightly so that he could take a look at the pizza that was on top. He saw that it was the cheese pizza and passed it off to Roman, who took it semi-eagerly before passing Junior the second pizza that was in the stack without even needing to check it.

Roman smiled, opening his box of pizza and removing a single slice from it. He hummed quietly, and grabbed the fork out of the bowl of salad that he'd gotten for himself. He looked up at Junior for a moment and flashed him a smile. "Yeah, everything's good."

Junior blinked, feeling absolutely confused as to what had happened in the few minutes that he'd left them alone for. This wasn't normal behavior for Roman, and it  _ certainly _ wasn't normal behavior for James.

He honestly didn't know whether he should worry or not.

"So how much was it?" Roman asked, looking up at Junior. "Because I'm going to pay you back."

James spoke up from his side of the couch, where he'd settled back into it as comfortably as he possibly could. His legs were resting side by side, and once again, James was using his right hand to hold the thing that otherwise would have been painful. "You could take it out of the royalties." James said, just as a mocking suggestion for Roman. 

"Absolutely not." Roman answered, jabbing his fork in James' direction. "Nice try."

James shook his head, a slight smile on his face, and he looked away. Junior looked at Roman directly now, and shrugged. "So, I know it's not the night that you wanted-"

"I don't mind, big guy." Roman said, setting down his slice of pizza back into the box where it had come from. "My only regret is that my diet is ruined." Roman reached across the table to find the roll of paper towels, ripping one off and beginning to wipe his hands with it.

"I'm glad." Junior answered quietly. He realized, as he was looking away from Roman that maybe he'd let himself look for a little too long, but he also figured that Roman probably wouldn't mind it.

James hummed, and reached for the remote, passing it off to Junior. "Pick something for us to watch," He asked, quietly. "I've been watching stuff all day, I can't pick things anymore."

"How was your day anyways?" Junior asked, looking up at James.

"Well, you know-" James set down his slice of pizza. "Stayed in bed. Lin came over and made sure I ate, eventually got up and started watching things until you got home." He hesitated, and his voice was noticeably tight as he spoke. "Just normal stuff, you know?"

Junior nodded slowly. He was about to open his mouth to say what had happened at the gym that day, but was only stopped before he even got a chance to get started.

"I had a photographer friend of mine come in to help you two out." Roman said, looking up to meet James' eyes. "It's too bad, she probably wouldn't have minded having another pretty face to take photos of."

A blush rose on James' cheeks for a moment, before it was pushed back down. "I'm um." James paused. "I'm not photogenic."

" _ Liar. _ " Roman laughed. "Honestly, you both are pretty good looking. Damn shame."

"What's a shame?" Junior asked, cocking his head to the side a little bit in confusion.

Roman stared at him in disbelief, like he didn't have the slightest idea as to how Junior could have possibly missed something over the course of their knowing each other. He opened his mouth to speak, and hesitated, but then, James' voice was there, with striking clarity.

"He's calling us attractive, Junior." James deadpanned. "And is probably calling it a shame because he's-"

"I enjoy spending time with attractive people, that is correct." Roman cut James off before he could say anything else. Junior had to wonder whether it was a calculated move or not on Roman's part. "And you know, there's a lot of ways to spend time-"

"And I think  _ that's  _ my cue to leave." James said with a heavy sigh. He was about to stand up, but Junior reached out, gently placing a hand on his left shoulder.

"Jim, come on."

James scowled, and seated himself back down on the couch, although the movement was terribly stiff. "Look it's just-"

"I get it." Roman said. "I'll tone it back."

"Thank you." James mumbled.

What was even  _ happening  _ in this apartment?

Junior looked at Roman, and opened his mouth to say something to the shorter man, but couldn't think of anything good that he could say. "I..." He started. Stopped. Decided that what he was about to say was dumb. "I think you look pretty good too?" He finally managed, shrugging with the words.

Roman just shot Junior a quick wink, a cocky smirk still stretched across his face. "I know." He said, just sounding like he was infinitely pleased with himself. " _ Everyone _ thinks I look good."

"I don't." James deadpanned, already trying to get himself involved in his food again.

"He lies." Roman retorted, looking up at Junior for a moment.

James shook his head, and just went back to his meal. Junior looked down at his own food for a moment, and finally separated his own slice of pizza to eat. He was so confused by what was going on in his apartment, that he almost couldn't bring himself to eat.

It was almost like taking the bite of some pizza would be enough to wake him up from whatever fever-dream had made him imagine James and Roman getting alone with each other.

He let his eyes flick up to the clock, just so that he could at the very least check that it was still running instead of sitting there stationary, or melting, or doing something else that his mind could have thought up in a dream.

But instead, it was just there, mounted on the wall ticking down the minutes until it was midnight.

Roman would probably have to go soon, Junior realized. He looked over at the thin man, who had sprawled out a little bit in his spot and looked quite comfortable. "Ro?" He asked, hoping that he'd be able to catch the other man's attention. "You going to be able to get home alright?"

"I've got my car in the parking lot, don't I?" Roman responded, flashing Junior a smile. "I'll be able to make it home just fine, don't worry about me big guy."

Junior managed a nod, though the motion was much tighter than it should have been otherwise. Knowing that Roman would be taken care of would surely go a long way, he just worried.

The three of them sat there, long into the night, until James decided at around one that it was time to sleep, walking off to his room unevenly with that damned cane at his side. And for seemingly the first time that night, Roman and Junior were alone in the apartment. Junior couldn't think of anything to say to Roman, feeling himself getting tired, and perfectly content to let the smaller man just talk about what was going on with his work.

As it turned out, Roman was a doing a lot more for their business than Junior had originally realized. Around two, Roman got up himself and stretched.

"Hey, Junior?" Roman asked, almost yawning through the words. "I'm getting kind of tired, you mind if I head home to crash?"

Junior stopped, wondering whether he would be able to offer Roman a place on the couch that night as opposed to sending the man to drive home when he was already very obviously tired. There was always the possibility that he could let Roman stay in his room with him again, Junior supposed, but he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to be a part of that if it ended poorly again.

"Nah," Junior said, standing up himself. "I don't mind. Want me to walk you down to the car?"

Roman's eyes widened for a moment, before flicking away from Junior almost frantically. "Yeah." Roman answered, already heading to the door with his box of pizza in his hands. "I think I would like that." His box of pizza found its way to the counter, and Roman took the moment to slip into his shoes so that he could go down.

As for Junior, he just stepped into a large pair of slippers that had tread on them that he liked to wear when he had to go on short runs to the gas station that wasn't too far away from where he and James lived. Once he was sure that Roman was ready to go, Junior locked eyes with the other man and smiled gently, pulling the door open so that Roman could step out first.

Together the two of them walked down to the parking lot. On the way, Junior didn't say anything to Roman, because he couldn't think of anything that he wanted to say, and Roman seemed to be staying quiet in his own right, like he was afraid to say something, almost. It was uncomfortable, it was wrong, it was just very weird.

Roman was the confident one.

The two of them got to Roman's car. Roman stepped up to the side, unlocking the car and sliding his box of leftover pizza into the passenger's seat of his car. He leaned back out of the car, and for just a moment, Junior saw those green eyes with alarming clarity, and realized that he was positively ready to melt at any second.

Roman Torchwick, under the lamps of the city lights, was very attractive.

Junior felt his face heat up, though he didn't know whether it was coming from a place of embarrassment or whether it was coming from somewhere else. He was just glad that he had a beard that could at least hide some of it, and that it was dark enough that Roman probably wouldn't be able to make out a blush anyways.

"So." Roman said, smiling weakly up at Junior with tired eyes. "If you want, I could come in for that lesson you owe me tomorrow?"

"Uh.." Junior hesitated, trying to figure out whether or not he had something to do the next day or not. "How about I call you when I know whether that'll work out?"

Roman's mouth opened, like he didn't know what to say before he just smiled up at Junior, almost looking a little bit sad. "Okay." He whispered, stepping away from Junior and sliding down into the driver's seat of his car. Slowly, the top retracted, and Roman looked back up at Junior once it was out of the way.  "You know, I should have that ad done for you in a few days. I can swing by when it's done?"

"I'd like that." Junior said, stepping back away from Roman's car so that the redhead could pull out. "I guess I'll be seeing you?"

"Yeah." Roman smiled. "I guess so."

That was the last thing that they said to each other. Roman pulled out of the parking lot and began on his way back home, leaving Junior standing alone in the parking lot for his building unsure of what he was supposed to do next. All that he could think about was that there was something wrong with him, there was something churning in his stomach that wasn't at all comfortable and Junior was willing to bet that it wasn't the pizza.

He didn't know.

Junior frowned, and let out a heavy sigh before shoving his hands down into the pockets of his shorts and turning so that he could go back inside, walk up the stairs to the apartment as quietly as he possibly could, and then just found himself hoping that once he got inside he wouldn't end up accidentally waking James up.

He opened the door, and James was up, getting himself a glass of water. They exchanged a looks, and Junior already felt the need to explain his presence to James despite the fact that there wasn't anything that he needed to apologize for. James opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, and then looked back down at the glass of water in his hand.

Junior just slid out of his shoes, and began on his way back down to his bedroom. Before the door could open, he heard James turn off the sink and walking back to his own room, and then James' voice.

"Junior, you know that whatever is going on... I'm okay with it."

Junior opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he just pushed the door to his bedroom open, and stepped inside. He let the door swing shut behind him and flopped down into his bed, where he spent almost three straight hours staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what the hell was going on. 


	18. Reconvening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman needs a wingman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's coming a little bit later than it was supposed to and I just wanted to apologize for that. I've never missed an update on this fic before, yesterday was just a Really Bad Day.
> 
> That said, I hope you all enjoy it. 
> 
> Comments are love!

When Roman arrived at the office the next day, Summer was already there, seated at her desk with her feet rested against a cabinet and leaned back as far as she could go in her computer chair. Instead of working, she was sitting there with a nail file, smiling as she listened to a news report that was playing on her laptop. Almost completely oblivious to the world around her. 

The front door opened, and Summer looked up to see Roman coming in. She shot him a smile, and twisted slightly in her seat so that she could face Roman properly. "Good morning there, Pumpkin." She greeted him, those silver eyes still alight with something mischievous.

Roman sighed, shook his head, and crossed the room to take his desk as he normally would have. "Good morning, Sunshine." Roman greeted the woman back as he settled into his desk and turned to face her head on. "So, I have an offer that I don't think you'll be able to refuse."

"You're buying lunch?"

"I-" Roman stopped, letting himself smile and shake his head. "-No, that's not it." He managed to finish as he sank down into his seat. "I was going to go in for more boxing lessons tonight. I don't know if you wanted to join me and let off a little steam."

"Roman, if you needed a wingman, you should have just said so. Not that you typically would." Summer deadpanned, reaching over to her computer to mute the news stream. "I'd love to go." Summer span in her set, turning to face him. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes for a moment, deep in thought. Roman watched the woman, watched the way that her lips pursed and the way that she set down the filing board on the desk behind her.

He hesitated for a long time, trying to figure out whether or not there was actually a good way that he was supposed to react to what she'd just said to him. Roman didn't really think that he needed a wingman to help him catch Junior's attention. He'd thought that he was doing alright on that front.

Maybe not?

If he was confident in his abilities and Summer was confident in his abilities, then why would he need someone to wingman for him? It didn’t make sense.

"I just thought you'd just like to come along." Roman finally said, shrugging. "Since you were there for the first lesson and all of that."

Summer blinked, and hummed quietly. "I think I'd like to come." She finally said, smiling back over her shoulder at Roman. "Who knows, I might just need for  _ you _ to wingman for  _ me _ ."

Roman scoffed, knowing that Summer was probably just playing around and trying to make him feel a bit more comfortable. He shook his head, and grabbed his bag so that he could go through the daily ritual of getting his work space set up.

Mentally, he began to run through his list of things that he had to do. For instance, Roman at the very least was going to have to check his email and see whether or not Lisa had sent him the photos that she'd taken the night before. 

When he had those, he'd have to finish the posters for Junior,  run them to a printer's shop, and then run over to the gym to drop off the copies.

It was a lot of work that he'd have to go through, but it was worth it.

"Roman, dear?" Summer asked, turning in her seat again so that she could face him. Roman didn't look back at her for a moment as he turned his laptop on, hopeful that it would be ready for him to start his work for the day at any moment.

"Yes, Sunshine?" Roman asked, looking back over his shoulder so that he could see her. "Something wrong?"

"I was going to ask you that." Summer said, staring him down. "You're just being really quiet, I'm worried, it’s not like you."

Roman opened his mouth, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say. He grimaced and stared forward at his computer. It wasn't going to tell him that there was a proper course of action, it wasn't going to be able to give him the right words to say. No, he was on his own on this.

"I..." He hesitated. "I dunno, Summer. I went there yesterday to work with him, and we were going out for dinner after but ended up staying at his place and it was just... weird."

"Did you sleep with him again?"

"I never-  _ No _ ." Roman sighed, "No, we didn't... I just ended up having pizza with him and his brother and it was awkward. I learned a lot but..."

"Oh god, you have feelings for him." Summer snapped her fingers at the realization, staring Roman down. "You slept in his bed, and then I know about what happened the last time I saw you-"

Roman's eyes widened and he went pale, curling himself so that he was a bit more comfortably seated at his laptop. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sunshine."

"Bullshit you don't." Summer sighed. "Look, I'm not judging you, but... you need to keep some distance from this guy. If you get too close..."

" _ I know. _ " Roman mumbled. "I can get fired, I know." He buried his face in his hands, knowing that was the absolute opposite of what he should have done. He was going to ruin his makeup at this rate, but at the same time he was completely at a loss for words.

Summer moved in her seat to turn, stand up, and cross the office before reaching out to hug Roman gently. She squeezed his shoulders, and even let herself massage them gently with her free hands. "I care about you." Summer said quietly, just loud enough to comfort him. "I'll come with you tonight, I'll help you get the cute boxer to like you. But-"

"But?"

"But I'm not going to help you date him until your contract with his business has ended, okay Roman?" She said. "You know it's nothing personal, he's a nice guy, I just worry."

Roman couldn’t help but think that he didn’t know what the difference in ‘helping date’ and ‘help the cute boxer like you’ was. Maybe it was just a matter of words- Summer couldn’t get into trouble for one. 

Roman lifted his hands up to touch Summer's and tilted his head to the side. "I know, Summer, I know." He murmured. For just a moment, he squirmed, and Summer responded quickly by releasing his shoulders and going back to her seat. "It's just driving me up a wall is all." 

Summer hummed sympathetically before walking back over to her own desk and taking her seat there. She arranged herself carefully, making sure that everything around her was well put together instead of being a mess, and then sighed quietly. “I’ll come with you, Roman.” She said, her voice quiet. “You trust me, right?”

Those words earned a nod from Roman who stared back at his computer in search of something that would help him get through the day. He went straight to his email, opened it up, and was glad when he saw that he did in fact have an email from Lisa waiting there. Quickly, he tapped on it and began the download of all of the images that she’d sent his way.

It was going to take a while, by the looks of things, which Roman could safely attribute to the fact that there were over three hundred photos that had been taken. In Lisa’s email there were two sealed files. The first was labeled “Xiong’s All” and the second was labelled “Xiong’s Best.”

Roman was going to have to look through both of the folders, he knew that fully well, despite the fact that he trusted Lisa’s judgement. But sometimes gems slipped through the cracks, and Roman was dedicated to the absolute best.

And since he liked Junior, that meant that he had to look through everything with the absolute most care possible.

He frowned, able to hear the sound of the cars passing by the office. Roman reached into his bag to find a pair of earbuds that he plugged into his computer. He reached out, pushed his phone further into his line of sight, and put himself to work.

Once the world was blocked away, falling into a haze of work was surprisingly easy to do. There were no interruptions, and if Summer needed him she knew that she could just come over and mess up his hair, and that would be  _ more _ than enough.

After searching through roughly two hundred and forty seven photos, Roman found the  _ perfect _ image. It was of Raven Branwen, turned into a punch that was directed at the side of Taiyang’s head. Taiyang was smiling widely, and had one arm up like he was trying to block. Raven’s face was nothing but pure determination.

He opened up the file that he’d saved the poster that he’d been working on, and put himself to work to adjusting the colors and getting that new photograph in place as the background of the advertisement. Roman leaned into his seat, looked everything over, and began to move element after element around.

Roman Torchwick wouldn’t pull himself away from his computer screen for another full hour. He only stopped when Summer stopped to interrupt him by letting him know that it was time for their lunch break.

Roman didn’t really want to stick around for lunch today.

There was something building in the pit of his stomach and tearing into his chest that made him feel a little bit sick to even think about enjoying a meal that day. He didn’t know where this feeling was coming from, just that he really didn’t like it. He almost felt nervous, but it was worse than that.

It was a feeling that was in his stomach and weighed on his chest. It was unfamiliar.

So instead of going with Summer, he offered an excuse as to why he couldn’t go with her, took his car, and just went for a drive. Today, Roman didn’t turn on the radio, since he didn’t know that he actually wanted the distraction at the moment. Instead, he just wanted to take his time and let himself  _ think _ .

He was going to have to bring Junior their first finished poster. He was going to have a boxing lesson with the man. He was going to feel wrong, and awkward there, but he wanted to go. Roman was even at a point where he was starting to feel somewhat comfortable at the gym sometimes, and he had a feeling that it was going to be a bit quieter when he went in.

Especially if he went in during the day.

Roman pulled up to a red light and looked down at the clock on his dashboard. He did have an hour that he could spend however he wanted to, and since he didn’t feel like eating he figured that maybe he could get some work in. Or some leisure time, whichever sounded better when people asked about it.

For reasons unbeknownst to Roman, he set course for Xiong’s Fitness. He didn’t know what he was going to see once he arrived there, and he was perfectly okay with that fact. Sitting around the office wasn’t doing him any favors, and none of his other clients were likely to be open right now.

On the way, Roman turned onto a road that would bring him by one of the city parks. He liked driving by them and being able to see the flowers when he waited by the lights. With Summer he’d jokingly call this the ‘scenic route’ of the city.

Surely enough, the scent of flowers wafted by him on the breeze, and then Roman had to drive again.

He wound around the back of the park, drove the requisite ten to fifteen blocks that it took for him to reach Xiong’s and pulled into the parking lot, this time near the street as opposed to the space that he always took next to Junior’s car.

The front door was open, and inside he could hear the sound of chains rattling, and the occasional thud of a punch landing against a punching bag.

So somebody was in, that was interesting.

Roman put the roof back up on Sheila, locked the doors of his car, and went in. He stopped just outside of the door and leaned forward, just managing to peer in enough to see that there was a kid, probably no more than twelve years old, in a space just in front of the ring where a punching bag had been hung.

And Junior was there, smiling as he guided her in her punches. The kid would make it through three or four hits before she stopped, and then Junior would step in, slipping into his gloves and showing her what she was doing wrong.

It was almost cute, Roman thought as he hung to the back of the gym. He let himself into the gym and tucked himself in against a wall by the trophy case where Junior probably wouldn’t notice him until he was done with whatever he was doing.

Roman crossed his arms over his chest, and watched intently. He didn’t even notice that the office door at the back opened, or that James had ended up leaned against the wall next to him, watching Junior silently.

“What are you doing here?” James asked, his voice quiet as he leaned back against the wall.

Roman almost jolted, and looked up at James for a moment before registering what was going on. He swallowed, and shook his head. “I don’t know, really.” Roman answered. “I wasn’t hungry and it was my break.”

“So you came here?”

"Yeah." Roman mumbled. "That basically sums it up. Are things like this usually?"

"At this time?" James asked, inhaling deeply as he looked out at the gym, which was mostly empty at the moment. Roman noticed pretty easily that a small frown crossed James' face as he looked out at the room, like he was disappointed by something. "For the most part."

Roman nodded slowly. "I wanted to let you know," He started. "The posters are going to be done soon, and I figure that I should let you and Junior know about that before-"

"How much will they cost us?"

"Depends on the printer." Roman answered. "Look, don't worry about it. When I say I'll take care of it, I mean it."

James shook his head, like he didn't know what he was supposed to say. Out of the corner of his eye, Roman saw James cross his arms over his chest, and almost thought that he saw James grip his left arm a bit tighter than he probably should have with the hand that Roman now knew was metal.

And when Roman looked up at James' face, he realized that James watched Junior with a look of quiet jealousy on his face. If Roman could have immediately figured out what that was about, he would have said something, but instead, he wondered whether there was anything he could actually do.

Whether it was actually possible to help James.

It almost seemed like the guy worked here these days because otherwise he wouldn't have had anywhere else to go.

"We can go and talk about payment while he-" Roman gestured over to Junior with a nod. "You know?"

"I don't know what there is to talk about." James said. "But we can."

"Alright." Roman pushed himself off of the wall just a bit and the two of them began to walk to the back office. On the way to the office, Roman was careful to just try and tuck himself out of Junior's view behind James' mass until the two of them were in the office and James had closed the door behind them.

Roman beelined for his seat and sat down there, and watched as James walked around the other side to the ergonomic chair that was sitting there. He slowly seated himself, leaned back in the seat slightly, and stared across the desk at Roman.

"So." James finally said, frowning slightly. "Why are you actually here?"

"I told you the truth." Roman answered, trying to wave James' concerns away by bringing his hands up in front of him. "The posters are almost done, and I just happened to be in the neighborhood when my lunch break rolled around." Roman felt that bad feeling show up in his stomach and looked down and away from James again. "You trust me, right?"

James was silent. "He mentioned you had a class tonight."

"I do." Roman answered. "I hope that won't be a problem."

"It won't be." James said, sighing. The man turned his face away from Roman's to look at the schedule that was posted in clear view for everyone to see. "We'll be basically closed by the time you come in anyways, it's just the cleanup after that."

Roman nodded, his expression tight. Despite the other night, things were still terribly awkward with just James there. He'd thought that the two of them had managed to work through some of what was wrong between them, but now Roman wasn't so sure.

The James the night before and this one were almost night and day to each other.

"I can help with the clean up." Roman offered, wondering if that would be enough to fix things. "If that's the only issue that there really is."

James nodded, slowly. "That would be nice," he finally said. "I think that would be really nice for all of us."

Roman looked over at the schedule to find that they were rapidly coming up on the date for the tournament that they were going to be enrolling Team Xiong in. They were in a crunch, more James and Junior than him, which meant that he had to be under double the crunch that they were if they were going to make it out of this thing well.

This wasn't a long job, Roman reminded himself. His job was to get them customers, get them a tournament scheduled in house, and then take his royalties when they made money. But he almost wanted to be a more permanent part of this job.

It almost was enough to make Roman think about the possibility of leaving his current job and stepping in at Xiong's on a full time basis.

But he had the feeling that wouldn't go well.

And then there was that whole thing about how he still wouldn't be able to do anything on the Junior front, which Roman really wasn't happy about to begin with.

“Is… cleaning up usually a problem?” Roman finally managed to ask. “It seems like it is.”

James frowned, and opened his mouth to say something, only to look away and give Roman another good look at the healing bruise that bloomed across his jaw. “It can be.” James said, very quietly. Like he was afraid to admit a weakness to Roman just then. “A lot of the time by the end of the night, I can’t do much.” James’ eyes flicked down to the empty desk space. “So I’m just back here most of the time.”

Roman felt his heart go out to James then, because he realized again that James was really there because he didn't anywhere else to go. He'd been there once himself, but he'd also managed to work his way up the ranks into a place where he could work on his terms and serve clients his way. It was a long way from the bathrooms that he'd had to clean up when he first got involved in the nightclub business. But it looked like James had never gotten that chance for real.

For a moment, Roman wondered just how much he and James had in common. Wondered whether the reason for James' general dislike was that.

So when it was Roman's turn to speak up again, he just nodded slowly. "You do your best." Roman said, just flashing James a weak smile. "I see it. And I know you aren't exactly happy about me being around, but-"

James raised a hand, still making a point not to make eye contact between the two of them. Roman was glad for that, he didn't want things to feel like they were too personal, not right now. Now like this. "You make Junior happy." James said, his voice sounding a little bit bitter. "And you seem like you're pretty good at what you do, so I trust your being here."

Roman froze. He needed a moment to be able to just meditate on those words and figure out what they meant. 

"I'm not trying to replace you." Roman said. "If that's something you’re worried about."

The other man's mouth opened, and then he just sighed heavily. He didn't say anything, or rather, he didn't get a chance to before the door to the tiny office opened and Junior was stepping in. The man looked tired, and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that made his shirt stick to his body a little too closely. Roman did his best not to stare, instead looking away so that he wasn't focused on Junior's presence.

"Roman?" Junior asked, looking at him as he walked to the space against the wall where he'd decided to store his duffel bag earlier in the day. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"What?" Roman asked, feeling genuinely confused as to why that would be the first place that Junior's thought process would jump to. Was Junior anticipating something going wrong? Or was Junior just genuinely confused as to what he was doing there?" "I- Nothing's wrong. Why, do you  _ think _ something's wrong?"

"Uh, no?" Junior asked, shrugging. The man picked up a towel to wipe some sweat away from his brow before dropping into one of the steel chairs that was still set out in the office. "But you haven't said why you're here?"

"I was in the neighborhood." Roman answered, hoping that Junior would accept the reason a bit easier than James had. "Figured I'd drop by since I was on my break."

Junior nodded. His cheeks and chest were flushed red, and he looked a little bit like he needed a nap. That wasn't even to mention the fact that Junior's hair was impossibly messy, even sticking to his brow in the places where it wasn't sticking up haphazardly. Roman shouldn't have thought of it, but it was a very good look on Junior.

One that he wouldn't mind seeing again if he got the chance.

"That makes sense." Junior said. In the back of his mind, Roman was able to make out the sound of a tiny fridge opening, and he watched as James stood up and stiffly leaned against the front of the desk as he passed a red plastic bottle of water across to Junior, who also leaned forward slightly to take the chilled bottle out of James' right hand. He unscrewed the cap and leaned back into his seat, bringing it up to his mouth and drinking from it. "Are you still going to be coming tonight?"

Roman blinked. "Yeah." He said, smiling at Junior as he shifted in his seat so that he could face the larger man just a bit better. "Summer will also be coming along, I hope that won't be a problem?"

"That won't be a problem at all." Junior answered, chuckling. "She's nice, I'd be glad to have her come back in." 

"Alright." Roman smiled into the world, feeling a bit of relief flow through him at the thought of it. "I'm sure she'll love to see you again, I think she thinks that boxing is more relaxing than yoga was."

Across the desk, Roman heard James scoff. " _ Yoga? _ "

"I did a guy a favor." Roman said with a shrug. "It was nice, but she likes this better." He shot James a look, and let his grin sharpen mischievously before he said anything else. "I think you might like it there, James," his eyes slid over to Junior for a moment, then back to James. "Being flexible can go a  _ very _ long way."

To no surprise, James' ears turned red in a flush that quickly rushed to his cheeks. The man stood up, lifted up his hands in surrender and left the office, which put Junior and Roman alone. Junior watched in befuddlement as James left, and then looked across the small space that existed between him and Junior now.

"Was that really necessary?" Junior asked, twisting in his seat a little so that he could get a good view of James as he disappeared into the rest of the gym. He looked back over at Roman, eyes a little bit worried. "Why did you-"

"I couldn't resist." Roman said, shrugging.

He was about to say something, but his train of thought was harshly interrupted by the sound of his phone going off to tell him that his lunch break was quite over.

_ Damn it. _

Roman frowned and stood up, taking a quick moment to stretch before looking down at Junior for the first time. It was weird, to be in that sort of position over Junior, but here he was. And Roman couldn't exactly go along pretending that he didn't like it. With a rather heavy sigh, Roman reached into his pocket to silence his phone, which was surely going to go off in another ten minutes to announce his lateness to the universe.

"Unfortunately-" Roman started, flashing Junior a smile. "I have to get going, I think I'm already running late and my lunch break just ended."

Junior opened his mouth to say something and just nodded. He was still flushed red, and still looked like a bit of a hot mess, but that was quite alright, Roman decided. It was still a very good look on Junior. "Right." Junior finally managed, pushing himself up onto his feet and looking to the door. "Want me to-"

"Walk me out?" Roman asked, laughing. "You'd really do that for lil ol' me?"

Junior flushed a bit redder, which was  _ very _ interesting.

Roman just flashed him a smile. "I'd be honored."


	19. Practice Makes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior has his hands full. Eternally. Taiyang is a flirt.

Junior walked Roman out, and bid the man farewell for the rest of the redhead’s workday. Roman was going to be back later that night for a lesson- Junior knew that. He hadn’t expected for Roman to drop in before then, but Roman was always a very welcome addition to his world.

A good friend that he could spend some time with, despite their differences. 

He sighed when he watched that orange convertible turn away onto the main road. Junior waited there for a minute then he went back inside. He looked around the main room, to see that James was busying himself at the ring, checking that the ropes were all well in place and smoothing down the canvas with his foot in some places when he needed an excuse to stop.   
  
The man looked down at Junior, then looked away.   
  
Awkward.   
  
Junior suspected strongly that Roman's little joke had a lot to do with that. He looked around the room, trying to find himself something that he could do himself. He figured that helping to clean up was never a bad idea, especially considering that he was going to have to end up staying in late anyways.

For just a moment, a pang of guilt flowed through Junior at the realization that James was probably going to end up having to nap on a bench or something if they ended up being there too long. It wasn't a good feeling to have. Junior let out a low sigh, grabbed a mop, and just began to busy himself around the gym in the slight hope that he'd be able to make a dent in the mess somehow.   
  
Around two hours into his cleaning, someone came in through the front door of the gym, making quite a racket as they did so.   
  
"-so I told Qrow that if I saw him at the golden gloves, I was going to kick _his_ ass!" The first voice exclaimed, sounding like they were carrying a strong sense of pride. The next voice followed, this one female.   
  
"Tai, that's my brother you're talking about."   
  
"C'mon, Rae Rae, let me kick his ass."   
  
"If you _can_ kick his ass, I'll personally give you twenty bucks."   
  
"Consider it done." Taiyang half-shouted as he rounded into the gym itself. Junior couldn't help but to stare at the man, and to no surprise of Junior's, James was doing the same. It seemed to Junior that neither of them wanted to know what this was all about.   
  
He hoped that Taiyang wasn't getting too distracted by whatever it was.   
  
Raven looked between James and Junior and sighed heavily, already tying her hair up into her ponytail so that she didn't have to worry about the black hair getting in the way. "Sorry I'm late, you two." Raven said, stepping up to one of the benches that lined the gym and stripped out of her good shirt and down to the sports bra she liked to train in. "Things came up."   
  
Junior looked from Raven to Taiyang, at a complete loss for words. He opened his mouth to say something, in hopes that he could at the very least let Raven know that she hadn't done any harm, but when no words came out, Junior simply accepted his defeat.

Today, he just didn't have even the slightest idea as to what he was supposed to be doing.   
  
Some business owner he was.   
  
Raven didn't need long to register the fact that Junior was a little bit lost at the moment. She looked at James, probably looking for some sort of instructions as to what she was supposed to be doing, only to earn a small nod away from the ring from the man. The black haired woman turned to go, and that was when Junior finally managed to regain his thoughts.   
  
"I'm going to get ready for Roman." Junior said, shooting James a look. "Keep an eye on them?"   
  
James nodded, looking like he was almost bored. With his chance to leave secured, Junior left the room, hopeful that he wasn't going to need too much time away from everyone else to clear his head.

He was confused, he was a little bit tired since he hadn't exactly slept the best, and now he had to prepare himself for the fact that Summer and Roman were both coming in that night for a lesson.

Just fantastic. There was absolutely no way _that_ could go wrong, Junior thought with a grimace. He didn't even know what he was going to end up needing to teach the two that night, just that it was going to happen whether he liked it or not.

It would have been easier if he wasn’t still thrown off from recent events. Roman. James. Roman again.  
  
Junior picked up his mop again, embedding himself in as much busywork as he could and only decided to let himself step away on the rare occasion that somebody needed him to help out with something.

As it turned out, since Raven and Taiyang were both in and were taking their turns on the offensive with each other, it meant that he had to be called away quite often. A lot of the time they just needed someone to double check everything was okay.

Junior understood that.  
  
Hours passed by, each more monotonous than the last until the clock struck seven, and then, the door to Xiong's Fitness was pushed open, with Summer leading the way in and Roman following after her with a smile on his face and laughing as though Summer had just told a joke.   
  
Junior was curious, but he figured that whatever it was, it wouldn't be anything that could do him any harm. He could stand by and let the two do their thing, he just had to be ready for the fact that he was going to have to teach them whatever he could.   
  
The pair stopped by the door, and Junior just went to the small supply closet so that he could store away his broom. He was inevitably going to have to pick it up once the lesson was over, but in this case he wasn't sure that he minded that so much.

He liked having Roman and Summer around, after all. They were good people, and he was almost always going to be happy to teach them.

He just wasn’t exactly the type to do lesson plans.

Too much self doubt told him that he was terrible at them.

He tried not to think about it. 

Junior looked over towards the door again, to see that this time, Taiyang had decided that he was going to give Summer and Roman the best welcoming that Xiong's had to offer. The blonde was there, almost playing along with the two like he was about to give them some sort of grand tour of the gym, despite the fact that both of them had been there on a few occasions beforehand.

Not that Taiyang would really care either way.  
  
With a sigh, Junior decided to make his approach and give Summer and Roman the proper greeting that they deserved. He walked up behind Taiyang as quietly as he could, crossed his arms over his chest, and in the most menacing voice that he could manage, Junior spoke up.   
  
"Don't you have anything better to do than flirt with the guests, Xiao Long?" Junior asked. To no surprise, Taiyang let out a bit of a squeak, almost jumping when he heard Junior's voice. The man whirled around to face Junior, opened his mouth to say something, then only pouted when it seemed like he had nothing to say.   
  
Slowly, Junior's chest and shoulders began to shake with laughter before he finally let it out. Taiyang's face turned scarlet with embarrassment.

“It's fine." Junior offered, patting the blonde on the shoulder before looking at Roman and Summer. "I'm glad to see you two." He said, shooting both of them his best smile. He wasn't the charismatic powerhouse that Roman or Summer or even James on the rare occasion seemed to be, but he _could_ hold up pretty well on his own, and Junior was honestly quite proud of that fact. He paused, looked at Taiyang, then back to the two. "Did he give you a proper introduction?"   
  
Surprisingly enough, it was Summer that took the lead. She stepped forward, with one exaggerated long stride as she craned her head to get a good look at Taiyang. "I don't think he did." She said, grinning a bit. "I'm Summer."   
  
Taiyang looked over at Junior, halfway asking permission before just grinning widely and leaning against the wall to offer his hand to the woman as nonchalantly as he could. "The name's Taiyang." The blonde said with a wide grin. "Want me to show you the ropes?"   
  
"I'd-" Summer was about to say something, only for Roman to step forward, right close to Taiyang for a moment.   
  
"Unfortunately, I think she's already got plans." Roman said, his eyes light with something. They flicked behind where Junior and Taiyang were standing for just a moment before he grinned up at the blonde. "Maybe next time?"   
  
Summer looked at Roman and opened her mouth to protest, only to be quieted by the sound of a shout from across the gym.   
  
"Tai, get back over here!" Raven called from the ring, sounding a little bit irritated. "You have things to do right now, _remember?_ "   
  
Taiyang looked back over his shoulder to see that Raven was indeed standing there, and not looking very pleased at all, Junior quickly observed. He wondered how frustrated she had to be with Taiyang, but at the same time Junior knew that this was in a lot of ways typical Taiyang behavior. He was the type that would drop everything for the sake of flirting with a cute girl.

Regardless of the situation. 

  
And since Junior had been the one to invite said cute girl to the gym- he wondered whether or not he should apologize to Raven for accidentally robbing her of her sparring partner of choice.   
  
“I’ll be there in a minute!” Taiyang called back, flashing the very much unamused Raven a quick smile and winking at her. Junior watched the woman out of the corner of his eye and didn’t need much of anything to make him take note of the way that she grit her teeth and looked a little bit like she was ready to kill something. Or more accurately, a particular blonde someone.   
  
“Well, hurry it up!” Raven called. She stepped away from the ropes, and went to the side of the ring where her usual pair of red and black gloves would surely be waiting. Junior turned his attention away from her and back over to Taiyang, Summer, and Roman instead.   
  
While Roman stood awkwardly at the back, Taiyang was almost edging so that he was uncomfortably close to Summer. “So, you’re here to learn?” Taiyang asked, letting his volume dip. “Because I can really teach you-”   
  
“I would love to.” Summer smiled up at Taiyang, and for just a moment Junior noticed the way that her eyes flicked up and down Taiyang’s body for just a moment before settling on his arms and shoulders for a few seconds too long. “Would you want to teach me?”   
  
“You know, I think I woul-”   
  
“That’s enough, Taiyang.” Junior finally decided that it was time to step in before there was absolutely no chance of anything getting done that night. “Summer will be learning from me with Roman. You have training to do.”

“But-”  
  
“No buts, Taiyang.” Junior sighed. “Please, leave us.”   
  
Taiyang looked like he was ready to protest, so Junior’s response was to just shoot him a look that was enough to make the smaller man shrink into submission. He stepped back away from Junior, Roman, and Summer, and flashed another smile at Summer. He was about to raise his hand to make some sort of gesture in her direction, but froze and turned to run when he heard a very frustrated “Taiyang!” from behind him.   
  
Junior sighed heavily and couldn’t help but wonder what he’d done to deserve such chaos in his gym. Usually he didn’t mind Taiyang’s playfulness, but he wasn’t the biggest fan of everyone being completely distracted from their duties so easily.

He turned his eyes on to Summer and Roman and did his absolute best to soften his expression so that he wouldn’t risk upsetting either of them. Even if there never was any legitimate risk of that happening, Junior still worried that he’d scare people based on his size alone, and that wasn’t a good feeling. “Are you two ready?” Junior asked, keeping his voice down. “Or do you need a minute to get ready?”  
  
Summer smiled and unzipped her sweater down the front so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it. Junior couldn’t help but to smile and shake his head a bit before his eyes fell on Roman. Roman didn’t budge, just smirked at Junior and shrugged a bit.   
  
“I’m always ready for you, big guy.” Roman said, flashing that same characteristic grin that he always did. “Why, you don’t think I’m ready?”   
  
Junior swallowed, and almost felt the need to separate himself from the room entirely so that he didn’t run the risk of showing exactly how embarrassed he was feeling at the moment. Roman was always flinging around his lewd jokes, but Junior really wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about the fact that they were almost _always_ being sent in his direction.   
  
He didn’t know why that bothered him really, but it was enough.

He steeled himself and let his eyes slip shut before he finally said something. “You look like you’re ready.” Junior sighed the words out before standing back upright and letting his eyes open. He looked over to the small area where he’d set up a bag for the pair in their last meeting and gestured over to it. “Shall we?”  
  
“Um, obviously.” Summer laughed. She shrugged out of her sweater on the way to the bag, and Junior let his eyes flick over to the ring to see that Raven had just landed a little-too-hard punch to Taiyang’s chest, while Taiyang looked like he was a little more than just a bit distracted.   
  
What had he just invited into his gym?   
  
Roman shook his head and hesitated before walking over to the bag for just a moment, like he wanted to walk there alongside Junior instead of going over alone. And most surprisingly of all, Roman actually looked like he almost felt a little bit embarrassed by Summer and Taiyang’s behavior.   
  
“Is he usually this hopeless?” Roman asked, his eyes flicking up to the ring for just a moment.

It was a good question. Junior did his best to retain a chuckle, only to fail and half-laugh out his response to Roman. “Sadly, that’s a yes.”   
  
“And I thought flirting with a brick wall was bad.” Roman said as the two of them approached the bag. Realizing what Roman might have meant, Junior coughed and stood up straight, trying not to betray his thoughts for just a few moments. “So, boxing?”   
  
“Uh, yes.” Junior answered. “Boxing.” He looked at the bag, then between his two charges before he stepped away from the pair to get some of the gloves that they’d used the last time that he’d gone ahead to give Summer and Roman some lessons. Junior found the gloves quickly enough and pulled them down, shaking them just in case there was something inside of them before looking at Roman and Summer.   
  
“So, who’s first?”   
  
“That-” Roman laughed. “Would be me, since it looks like Sunshine here is a little distracte-”   
  
“Oh you shut up!” Summer cried, stomping one foot in some offense at Roman’s words. “I’m perfectly focused, thank you very much.”   
  
And once again, Junior didn’t know what he was supposed to say or do. These two always tended to be a bit of a handful, but at the same time, he never really knew how he was supposed to go about dealing with them. He just swallowed, and looked at Roman. “So, you?”   
  
Summer huffed quietly, but Junior tried to pay it too much mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to watch her, and the way that she was letting her eyes wander over to the pair of fighters that were sparring in the ring. He was probably going to have to go over what they were doing a few extra times with her, but Junior wasn’t so sure that he minded.   
  
Roman grinned widely and hopped back and forth playfully, like he was doing his best to mimic the way that the trained fighters moved, or like he was maybe trying to warm himself up somehow. “Yeah, me first.” Roman chuckled before getting close to Junior. “So, gloves?”   
  
“Yes.” Junior said, weighing the two pairs of gloves in his hands before stepping up to Roman and deciding that he was going to put Roman in the heavier pair. He figured that Roman was going to inevitably end up whining about them, but in the end Junior wasn’t quite sure whether he cared that much or not. He tore open the velcro and looked at Roman. “Can I have your hand?”

“Junior, are you asking _me_ to marry _you_ ?” Roman laughed. “Because, you know-”   
  
“Really, Roman?” Junior deadpanned, holding the glove open so that Roman could slide his hand into it at any moment. There was a split second where Junior _thought_ that he saw Roman’s expression turn to regret, before instantly getting replaced with his usual, lighthearted expression.   
  
Roman stepped up and offered his right hand, sliding it into the glove, which Junior was more than happy to velcro into place now that Roman had decided to forgo his jokes and actually let Junior go about his job. The left hand soon followed, and that was when Junior decided to step back.   
  
He watched quietly as Roman began to test out the gloves, mostly by knocking his hands together.  Junior watched every motion, almost feeling some interest in how Roman was moving despite the fact that he’d watched other people do these things a thousand times before. For some reason, he actually did like watching the way that Roman moved.   
  
It was probably because Roman was so confident. That had to be it. Roman always carried himself like he was the only thing that mattered in the world, and Junior was starting to believe it.

He wished he could be like Roman in that way.   
  
“You good?” Junior asked, flashing a quick, nervous smile in Roman’s direction.   
  
“I always am, big guy.” Roman said, sidling up to the punching bag so that he could get some practice in. Junior watched him, watched the way that Roman pushed the lengths of his fingers together so that he could ball his hands into proper fists before bouncing back and forth on his legs. There was a quick moment where he hesitated, and then Junior realized that Roman was looking at him, with something like confusion in those green eyes.   
  
"So, should I..?"   
  
"Punch it." Junior chuckled. "Or wait, I can get my gloves and we can-"   
  
"Nah, I'll be good." Roman cut Junior off, and Junior wondered for a moment whether or not it was his way of just keeping Junior from walking away or leaving him behind there at the punching bag with no idea about what he was supposed to do. The thin man bounced again. Once, twice, and then on the third bounce Roman threw a punch at the punching bag, which jingled on its chain quietly.   
  
The bag swung slightly. Summer moved now, turning to face Junior and Roman now so that she was actually aware of what was going on around her as opposed to just watching Taiyang and Raven as they threw punches at each other. She opened her mouth to say something, and Roman looked disappointed. Frowning, Junior reached out and grabbed onto the punching bag so that he could at the very least stop its swinging.   
  
He turned his eyes to Summer. "You might want to get into gloves as well and take a moment to warm up. I'm going to need to go get some things for you two-"   
  
"What would you need to get for us?"   
  
"Protection." Junior answered, and before he could stop Roman from saying something, the ginger haired man was speaking up.

"Don't you know, that protection is _always_ impor-"   
  
That was it. Junior didn't know that he could do this anymore. " _Roman_ ," he growled the word out, and didn't even notice the way that Roman stiffened visibly at the sound of his voice. “ _That’s enough.”_   
  
Just like that, everything went quiet around them.   
  
The realization that he way have just seriously offended Roman crossed Junior’s mind and he stood upright, very much afraid of what could come next. He opened his mouth to stutter out an apology, and found himself watching Roman the entire while.   
  
The other man was going to be angry. He had to be angry.

“Roman, I’m sorry, I didn-”   
  
He looked frantically between Summer and Roman, looking for any confirmation that he hadn’t gone completely out of line in his attempt to stop Roman’s latest innuendo. His eyes fell on Roman, and for just a moment Junior could have sworn that he’d seen Roman shiver.   
  
“It’s...” Roman started, swallowing something down that Junior was sure had to be fear. What else could it be? “It’s quite alright, Junior.” The thin man turned to face the punching bag again. “I’ll be here.”   
  
Junior’s eyes slid over to Summer, and she nodded to give him the quiet permission that he needed to be allowed to leave.   
  
Junior took the escape.

It was terribly awkward. Junior almost felt like he was sick to his stomach but he didn't know why that feeling was arising now. What was wrong with him today? Had he eaten something that was disagreeing with him? Or had he slept so poorly that it was starting to bleed into everything else?

Junior slipped into the office, where he knew there was bound to be at least some sort of extra equipment that he could give to Summer and Roman to use while he trained them. There had to be headgear where, the question after that was just whether or not Roman and Summer would accept wearing it.

Roman probably wouldn’t want to ruin his hair. 

He found two soft foam helmets and sighed. He'd found what he needed, but now he was going to have to go back out there and face the two of them, and worst of all, Junior was inevitably going to have to deal with the fact that he couldn't concentrate. If only he knew why he was feeling this way, then maybe things would work out for him.   
  
Something was so, so wrong.   
  
Junior went to the door, and stopped. He needed more than just a minute before he was going to be able to go back out there and confront Summer and Roman directly. He was going to have to find a way to ignore the way that there was an uncomfortable feeling churning in his stomach that was absolutely going to just refuse to let him go. If he had any idea as to why things were this way for him right now, Junior wouldn't have worried about it, or let it stick in his head so prominently as an issue that refused to let him go.   
  
He inhaled deeply and did his best to steel himself, the same way that he would steel himself in the past before he went ahead and stepped into a boxing ring.

Slowly, Junior pushed the door open, and went back out to meet with Summer and Roman, and begin their lesson for real.   
  
Silently, Junior couldn't help but to wonder what he had gotten himself into.   
  
Where had he gone so wrong that he would find himself entangled in the middle of this mess? What had he done to deserve this? What god had he angered so badly as to put him into regular contact with Roman Torchwick? 


	20. In The Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and Roman get a little closer than is comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter's a little bit late, but the holiday threw things off for me a bit. I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Comments are love!

By the time his lesson was over, Roman was positively ready to  _ drop _ .

He wanted to sleep forever, or enjoy a meal, or cuddle up against someone who was much larger and stronger and him, and preferably much warmer. He just wanted to rest.

But now that the lesson was over with, he was helping to dismantle a rack that one of the many punching bags had been hung from.    
  
The entire atmosphere in the gym had been awkward ever since Junior had gone to get the headgear. There were a lot of things that were playing into it, such as Summer constantly ogling the boxers, the fact that for some reason Junior didn't seem like he was able to look Roman in the eye anymore, and then there was the fact that Roman was unable to get that growl out of his head.  

It really shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was.

Roman wished that there was something that could have made things more comfortable, and he was going through every possible option in search of something that he could do to make things better. All he’d come up with thus far was that he could help with cleanup.    
  
A heavy punching bag dropped to the floor, and Roman frowned when he realized that he still had another twenty or so feet to go before he was going to be done with dealing with it for the evening. He would pick his head up once in awhile. 

On the other side of the gym, James was talking to Raven about something, while the woman nodded along and would occasionally offer thoughts of her own about what they could do. Summer was also helping with the cleanup, but she'd somehow managed to enlist the help of Taiyang to move everything. It wasn’t much of a ‘somehow,’ Roman reminded himself. It was pretty easy to figure out what had happened there.   
  
Roman wished that he could enlist someone's help to get things out of the way. But alas, he'd promised that he would help with the cleanup. And it didn't look like there was anything that he could really do that would make things better for them. No, everything was strange, and awkward, and there was absolutely no getting around that fact.    
  
And that? That was the worst part. 

At some point he'd misstepped on an all new level and now Junior wouldn't even look at him.    
  
And to top it all off, Roman already was in a position where he wasn't actually able to pursue the gigantic boxer anyways.    
  
It just left him wondering why he'd decided to take this contract instead of just turning it down and pointing James and Junior in the right direction. At least if he'd done that he would actually be able to do something to make this a bit easier on himself.    
  
But alas, he'd done nothing, and now Roman had to pay for that fact.    
  
And the way that he had to pay for that in involved not having any true contact with Junior. 

But damn, if Roman couldn't keep his mind away from the larger man. If he didn't want to be shoved into a wall by him or maybe even snapped in...   
  
Roman stopped himself. 

This was a  _ dangerous _ train of thought, and unlike last time, there wasn't any getting away from it if he got there. He doubted that there would be a space comfortable or clean enough for him to go and deal with his issues. Instead of thinking about what he was going to do about Junior, Roman decided to redouble on his work. Once again, he lifted up the punching bag, and began to carry it toward the storage area.    
  
He almost felt like he was going to snap in half when he carried it. 

And not in a good way.

For the second time, Roman decided that it was probably best for him if he didn't get too engrossed in the world of boxing. It was very much not his thing.    
  
He got to the door, and dropped the bag down in front of him a second time, where it landed with a loud thud. Junior was inside of the closet, organizing a few sets of gloves on a rack. The giant turned his eyes onto Roman, and for just a moment, Roman wanted to break down and apologize because his flirtations and jokes had finally gone too far with Junior. 

Though if James had finally gotten to a breaking point with them, Roman supposed that a breaking point on Junior's end probably should have been expected sooner than later. If one of the brothers did one thing, it seemed like the other was always going to follow not too long after. 

Junior didn't say anything to him, just lifted up the bag by the chain in the single most effortless motion that Roman had ever seen. 

It was entirely too attractive.   
  
He stood there in the closet for just a moment with Junior, almost too afraid to move or say anything. A thousand thoughts were flooding his head, and ultimately, Roman couldn't figure out which ones he was supposed to attach himself to and say, and which ones he was supposed to push back.    
  
He let his eyes slide over to the shelf,where there were tons of little things that had been set aside so that they could be found easily. Roman let his eyes focus in on a roll of tape, and then he spoke, albeit very softly. "I'm sorry." He whispered, just barely loud enough that Junior would be able to hear him despite all of the people in the main room of the gym that were moving around.    
  
Junior's eyes went all soft at once, and then he reached out and grabbed the door handle, then pulled the closet door shut behind Roman, effectively trapping the two of them in there and blocking off any chance of escape. Roman felt his heart almost stop in his chest, and he had a quick moment where everything in his body screamed at him to just  _ run _ .    
  
Junior could do terrible things to him based on size alone, and since Roman was sure that he'd finally managed to offend the guy. He didn't want to know what those mighty fists looked like on the receiving end. He pressed himself against one of the shelves, because at least if he shrank into them there was some amount of comfort.    
  
Roman squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away from Junior's, then a voice.   
  
"...Roman?" Junior. Impossibly soft. Gentle. Scared. "Roman, what's-"    
  
Roman couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Junior. Not now, not when he was trapped in there with the giant and so unsure of what was going on. What was going to happen? Was Junior going to hurt him?    
  
Junior didn’t seem angry, and that only made everything worse. If Roman at the very least knew where he stood right now, he probably would have been fine, but instead he was dealing with a Junior that almost looked like he was afraid himself. Junior's voice broke through the haze of Roman's mind again. More clearly, this time.    
  
"Roman, talk to me?" 

"You-"    
  
Junior looked at the door, and to Roman's surprise he actually backed away from Roman. The giant put himself as close to the back wall as possible in an attempt to show that he wasn't penning Roman in. If Roman wanted to, he could leave, but Roman couldn't move. He was afraid, because he just didn't know what he was supposed to do, or what Junior wanted from him. 

He'd just wanted to apologize.   
  
"I'm not mad." Junior said now, his voice dipping in volume rather than tone. "I just figured you'd want some privacy?"    
  
"You-" Roman blinked, feeling the way that his eyes were starting to prickle with tears. He couldn't cry, he'd ruin his mascara, but he was just so  _ scared _ , and he didn't know  _ why _ . "You're not?"   
  
"No." Quiet. "I accept your apology, Roman. I do. I'm sorry that I scared you." Junior crossed his arms over his chest and pressed himself back against the wall further. He looked down at the floor, like he was afraid to look Roman in the eye, and Roman realized that things were bad. It was then that he realized that they were two terrified people in the same situation, both trying to navigate the other without a roadmap.    
  
"Thank you." Roman finally said. He wrapped his arms around himself, and for the first time in a very, very, very long time, Roman wanted to disappear into nothing. He didn't want to be here or be dealing with this. He just wanted things to be okay again, and even though Junior was accepting his apology, Roman wasn't sure of how true that was.    
  
Whether that was real, or something else.    
  
But Junior wouldn't lie to him, would he?    
  
Junior’s voice was there again, soft and insistent, almost comforting even. “Are you going to be alright?” Junior asked. His eyes flashed over to the door, then back to Roman to focus on the thin man’s face. “I’m really sorry about that. I really didn’t mean-”    
  
“I’ll be fine.” Roman forced the words out, already feeling himself slowly becoming more and more able to relax the more that Junior talked. The more he watched the other man, it became more and more obvious, at least to Roman, that there wasn’t anything to fear. Junior was just as scared as he was, and the proclamation that he’d pulled the door shut to trap them both in the closet like that for the sake of privacy seemed genuine. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that Roman was still, at least on some level, rather afraid, then he would have been brought back a number of years to high school, where he’d found himself at more than one party that ended similarly to this. With him and someone else pressed into a closet together and expected to do something before they came out.    
  
It’s just that this time, that expectation wasn’t there. Roman was in the closet with Junior because he’d been trying to help with the cleanup. Roman was in a closet with Junior because Junior had decided that the best way for them to get privacy as opposed to going to the office had to be to pull the closet door shut behind Roman.    
  
It became quickly apparent to Roman that it was entirely likely that the others at the gym- Summer especially, were going to speculating on what them being in the closet could mean. In the back of his mind, there was a part of Roman that told him that he should just give the public what they wanted, put on a show, and come out with his hair mussed or something.    
  
But that wasn’t right. If he were with someone that was more like him, if he were with someone that was a natural born performer, then maybe he would have considered it. But he was with Junior. Shy, awkward Junior, who probably never found his way into a closet with someone else for any other context than this one.    
  
He couldn’t do that to Junior. He liked the guy too much to do that sort of thing, and Roman knew that entirely too well.

He swallowed, and pushed off from the racks that lined the walls, just a little bit. He stepped forward towards Junior, trying to show the other man that at the very least he wasn’t afraid, and he forced on the absolute best smile that he was able to muster.    
  
Then, Roman spoke.    
  
“We’re... we’re cool, right?” He asked, keeping his voice down. “Because I know that a lot has happened since you and I met that hasn’t been exactly...” His voice trailed off.    
  
“Appropriate?”    
  
“Yeah.” Roman whispered. “Appropriate.” His and Junior’s eyes met, and he was able to see the way that some of the tension was already sliding out of Junior’s body as they stood there. Junior was starting to relax, and that was the absolute best thing that Roman could have hoped for.   
“I uh...” Junior started to say something, but only stopped himself. Roman watched him, watched the way that the man seemed to square his shoulders as though that would magically make him stand more confidently, or would make him more comfortable in his surroundings.    
  
For some reason, Junior shook his head and looked away from Roman. It left Roman’s chest feeling a bit like there was a pit in it, not that he would have been able to understand why that was. It was wrong, but at the same time, it felt almost genuine.    
  
“We should probably go back out there, right?” Junior asked finally, and it just left Roman wishing that he knew what it was that Junior had originally intended to say to him. He was sure that whatever it was, it had to be at least somewhat genuine, but at the same time, he still wondered. He’d hoped that Junior wouldn’t ever feel the need to censor himself around Roman, but apparently he did.    
  
On the other hand, Roman knew that it was probably a lesson that he should have at least tried to learn for himself at some point. He always made a point to censor nothing, and would only typically stop when he pushed too far.    
  
And he always ended up pushing too far in the end.    
  
Roman let his eyes slide over to the door, and then he nodded, letting out a heavy sigh as he did so. He looked down at the floor for a couple of seconds before forcing himself to stand upright and confidently. A hand made its way up to his hair, which he flipped out of his face in the most extravagant way possible.    
  
In that moment, Roman Torchwick recomposed himself. Normally, others didn’t get the pleasure of being able to watch that happen, but here he was in a closet with Junior, who was watching as he forced himself upright, and watched as he smoothed his clothes down and made his hair look as good as he could make it without a proper mirror to look in.    
  
The only way that Roman could have possibly felt more vulnerable in that moment would have been if he was also fixing his makeup before going out too.    
  
“Yeah.” Roman finally said, looking to the door. “Should I go or-”    
  
“I’ll lead.” Junior said, stepping forward and twisting his body so that he would be able to slide past Roman without making any contact. There was just a moment where Roman felt his throat dry up at the realization that he and Junior were really close together.    
  
If he wanted to, he could have easily stepped in and kissed the man. It would have taken some effort on his part, but Roman could have done it. And oh, he wanted to.    
  
He forced himself not to think about it. He didn’t need another incident where he’d gotten a little too over his head when it came to Junior. He’d already been there before, and it was a shameful place to end up in.    
  
No. Roman wouldn’t go there.    
  
So he let Junior slip by to open the door.    
  
Junior pulled the door open and Roman couldn't help but to watch what was going on outside of the room. It didn't look like anyone was watching them, which was a very, very small comfort to Roman, but he was more than glad to throw Junior to the wolves first.    


Better Junior than him.   
  
He slipped out of the tiny closet a minute later. To Roman's great relief, nobody was looking over at him. Nobody was even paying attention to the fact that he and Junior had just left a closed closet together. No, instead, he was greeted by Summer's smiling face.   
  
"Roman!" She called from across the gym, raising a hand over her head so that she would be able to draw his attention over her way. Roman looked over at her, and tried hard to make himself look like he wasn't anywhere near as nervous as he felt.  
  
Roman looked back over his shoulder to see whether or not anyone was staring at him there before he shoved his hands down into his pocket and began the walk to where Summer was standing, next to Taiyang. Raven wasn't too far away from them, still engrossed in conversation with James.   
  
So Roman sidled up next to the girl and nodded over in Taiyang's direction before raising his voice.   
  
"What's up?"   
  
"We want to go out for dinner." Summer said, smiling sweetly up at Roman. "And I figured that it would be a good idea if I invited you, and then you chose a plus-one, then we invited everyone else-"   
  
Roman cocked his head and couldn't help but to blink as he did his best to figure out what it was that Summer was looking for. Dinner sounded good, but Roman had his nerves.   
  
Dinner with Summer was always good, and since it didn't look like it was going to be him getting third-wheeled, Roman was tempted.   
  
He flashed Summer his best confident smile.   
  
"I'll go ask him, alright?" Roman said, keeping his tone level. "I'll get back to you."   
  
"Do what you've gotta do." Summer giggled before once again wrapping herself up in conversation with Taiyang once more. 


	21. Breathe In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A feast for seven.

As it turned out, Junior was on board with going out to get food with everyone else, despite everything that had happened. 

And it wasn't just Junior- James had also agreed, and apparently Taiyang had talked Raven into joining them for a meal as well. Figuring out where they would go and how they were going to get there was a chore in itself, but it had worked out in the end.

Not exactly through normal means, but it had worked out.    
  
Now they were all sitting at the longest booth in a dive bar, while a menu or two got passed around the table and people tried to figure their orders out. Roman had wanted to get something healthy, but he'd ended up getting overruled by the fact that it was apparently unlimited appetizers that night at this little bar which Roman hadn't paid any attention to. 

It wasn’t exactly his usual sort of place.

He personally just found it weird that Taiyang knew where  _ every _ special on wings in the city was, and when they were at their best. Almost everyone had been on board with getting pizza- at least they were until Taiyang recited all of the wing specials available to them at that time of night.   
  
Unlimited appetizers for $15 with the purchase of a drink was a pretty good deal.

Even Roman couldn’t argue with that.    
  
They all had arrived at once, and Roman had been quick to get the group a table at the back of the bar where they wouldn't be paid a lot of  attention. They had all ended up sliding in together, with Roman finding himself on an end seat across from Summer, pressed up against Junior, while James sat on Junior's left.    
  
All in all, it was a somewhat cramped arrangement, but Roman didn't mind that so much. What was important was that they all got their food and had fun. Seating arrangements didn't matter so much.    
  
What did matter, however, was the fact that the menu wasn't the most forthcoming for food options that Roman was interested in eating. ALmost everything on it was either deep fried or loaded with meat, but the more that Roman thought about things, the more open he began to feel towards making it a skip day.    
  
Besides, he'd spent the entire day at a gym. Surely that was enough to justify putting garbage into his body.    
  
It was weirdly quiet until everyone's orders were placed, and then almost all at once, the table sprang to life.    
  
"This place is great." Taiyang promised, leaning forward so that he could rest his forearms on the table. "Me and these guys-" The blond gestured between an eye rolling James and Junior. "Used to come here all the time." 

"Did you now?" Summer asked, shooting Junior a look which only earned a slight shrug. "Is that why you wanted us all to come here, Tai?"    
  
"I wanted to come here because this place is made for great memories." Taiyang clarified. "And I'm going to spend a night with two beautiful women-" The man shifted in his seat slightly so that he could bump his shoulder against Raven's before pulling away. "I want to be sure that I remember it."    
  
"Who's calling my sister beautiful?" A familiar husky voice chimed in behind Taiyang, and all at once the blond froze and the color seemed to drain out of his face.   
  
Roman looked up behind Taiyang's head and saw that there was a man standing there with a beer in his hand. He was thin, with black hair that looked like it had either never been combed or like it just didn't know how to lie flat, and his eyes were a rusty red, not like Raven's piercing crimson. 

He’d seen those eyes before, but before it had been in a corner in a poorly lit bar.

Without thinking about it, Roman reached up to touch the spot on his neck where his hickey had mostly healed.

Taiyang laughed nervously and turned slightly to look up at the man. "Hey, Qrow." He chuckled. "Didn't see you here?"

Qrow waved a hand dismissively, and looked down at Raven. "Mind if I pull up a seat?"   
  
"I always mind." Raven answered in a deadpan. The man didn't seem dissuaded by it, and was already pulling a chair over to the table next to the edge seat where Raven was sitting. He slipped into place, looked over at James, and just gave him a quick nod that was accompanied by a weird smirk that Roman was sure he’d seen before.    
  
Roman tried not to notice the way that James stiffened visibly at the realization that someone was sitting down at his right.    
  
Raven let out a low sigh of frustration, and made direct eye contact with Qrow. Normally when she looked at someone directly, they tended to shrink away from her a little bit, Roman had noticed. Qrow though? Qrow stood his ground, sipping his beer as nonchalantly as possible.    
  
"Everyone, this is my little brother, Qrow."

Qrow raised a hand in a tiny half-wave, already leaning forward against the table.    
  
"And apparently, he's decided to join us." Raven shot Qrow a glare. Qrow didn't react to it at all, which was almost surprising to Roman, but with the knowledge that Qrow was Raven's sibling, he figured that Qrow was more than used to Raven's ways.    
  
Qrow scoffed, and set his drink down next to James' right hand, since it seemed like that was the only spot where he was able to place the glass without it causing too much trouble. James shifted his hand away, bringing it down in front of him and clasping it with his left.    
  
This was very, very awkward. 

Roman was mostly glad that Qrow hadn’t noticed him yet. Maybe he was lucky enough that Qrow didn’t remember him. That would have been nice.

"I just  _ love  _ spending time with my twin sister." Qrow said, shifting in his seat so that he could stared down the table at Raven, smirking cockily. "So, what's the special occasion?"   
  
"We got out of the gym and decided to get some food." Taiyang answered before anyone else could, which drew Qrow's attention over to his direction. Taiyang drummed his fingers against the table for just a moment, then looked down the table at everyone else. "I suppose introductions are in order since Qrow's apparently… joining us."    
  
That just earned another cocky smirk from Qrow and a wink. 

Roman wasn't sure whether he liked the guy or not. Even with nightclub trysts considered.

The table began to do some quick introductions, with some people introducing themselves more awkwardly than others did, and some like Summer acting as cheerful as ever when they spoke up. 

When it was Roman’s turn to introduce himself, he noticed the way that recognition dawned on Qrow’s features. Neither of them mentioned it.

Roman couldn't quite peg down how everyone around the table felt about Qrow's presence, but ultimately the guy seemed mostly welcome. 

Looking at the expressions of the people around the table was enough to betray to Roman who already knew Qrow and who didn't. As it turned out, he and Summer were the outliers. Looking Qrow over, Roman couldn't tell how James or Junior would know the guy. The guy was scrawny, but he looked like he was tightly muscled.    
  
Maybe…

"So, Qrow." Raven spoke up, breaking Roman out of his own thoughts. "What are you doing here?" 

Qrow laughed and gestured to his beer. "Three bucks for a beer all night." He said, like that was enough to explain himself. "And since I saw my  _ wonderful- _ "    
  
"Can it, Qrow" Raven scowled.    
  
Qrow doubled down. "My  _ lovely  _ sister, I figured I'd spend some time with her. And unlike most, I don't mind spending some time with people from a rival gym."    
  
Junior leaned over now, and Roman found himself wholly aware of every motion that the man made. "How are things over at Green's these days?" He asked, his voice sounding like he was gravely serious about the question.    
  
All at once, what was going on pieced together in Roman's head. Qrow had to have been a boxer, and he didn't go to Junior's gym for some reason. Roman swallowed and looked between Qrow and Raven, wondering if there was something wrong between them. His eyes slid over to the obviously uncomfortable James, then to Junior.    
  
They had probably competed to get Qrow to go to the gym in the past. 

There was some sort of history, and nobody was going to breach it by the looks of things.

Roman wondered if he'd be able to get into the guy's head and see whether or not the issue was something that Roman would be able to have a hand in fixing.  Or whether it was something completely unrelated to the boxing ring.   
  
Qrow blinked, and hesitated for a moment before leaning back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. "Well, you know. It's a gym." Qrow shrugged as he answered. "We're getting ready for the tournament next month, same as you guys. Just we're hosting, so-" Qrow's eyes narrowed into slits and he leaned forward so that he could get a better look around the table.    
  
His gaze settled on Taiyang. "So I'm gonna guess that it's going to be you and me since-" Qrow's eyes flashed over to Roman, and they narrowed even further. A weird expression crossed Qrow’s face, and Roman realized quickly that he may have been about to be toyed with. "No offense, but you don't look the part, red. Ring’s no place for a club bunny." 

Roman couldn't help but blink and look away, not sure whether he should feel offended by the comment or not. "None taken." He finally managed, though he knew he sounded as bitter as he felt. Qrow nodded, then focused back on Taiyang.    
  
"So, you and me?"    
  
Taiyang's hand balled into a fist and he leaned forward onto the table. He braced himself against it with his forearm and he and Qrow locked into direct eye contact, red and blue in direct contrast to each other. "Yeah, it'll be us." Taiyang half-snarled. “And Raven’s giving me money if I can kick your ass.”    
  
Roman couldn't tell whether it was playful or not.    
  
Surprisingly, Qrow smiled and leaned back into his seat a bit further. He reached forward for his beer and drank from it again. "I look forward to flattening you." Qrow chuckled. 

"The only one that'll be flat is you." Taiyang answered.    
  
Junior sighed, and he almost looked like he was ready to step in and stop this conversation before it got out of hand.    
  
But Junior wasn't the one to do it. James stood up and carefully maneuvered his way out of his seat so that he didn't end up inadvertently brushing against Qrow at all.    
  
Knowing what he did now, Roman understood James' carefulness a lot better.    
  
"Taiyang, could I have a word?" James asked, gesturing with his jaw to the outside area. The ugly bruise was still there, but fading against James' skin.

The table went silent, then Taiyang nodded and stood up. Wordlessly, James began to lead the two of them out of the restaurant.    
  
Roman tried not to notice the way that Qrow's eyes followed James and Taiyang a little too closely.    
  
When the door swung shut behind Taiyang, it was almost like it was a sign that it was safe to talk again.    
  
Unsurprisingly, the one to break the quiet first was Qrow. He just started with a laugh, shaking his head so that it didn't look like he'd been following Taiyang and James as the two left with his gaze. His eyes slid over to Raven, and with the biggest shit-eating smirk on his face that Roman had ever seen, Qrow spoke.    
  
"He's easy." 

Raven rolled her eyes. "You were antagonizing him."    
  
"Just trying to throw him off before we go to fight." Qrow answered, waving Raven's concern away with one hand. "Nothing personal, you know how things are."    
  
A heavy sigh escaped Raven, and she sounded like she was entirely done with having to deal with Qrow for the day. Like she just wanted to go home and sleep for forever instead of having to sit between the bickering Taiyang and Raven.    
  
"You're the worst."    
  
"You know it." Qrow said before draining the rest of his beer. He set the emptied glass back down at the table and looked at Junior, smirking. "How's the gym doing these days?" Qrow said. "I'd love to be there but-" The red eyes flicked over to Raven, then to the door, before going back to Junior. "You know."

"Business isn't really booming right now." Junior sighed. "Roman and Summer are trying to help us to fix all of that."    
  
Qrow's eyes focused on Roman now, and he nodded slowly. Roman could almost see the gears turning in the guy's head. Summer, on the other hand, just leaned onto the table and folded her hands under her chin before shooting Qrow the sweetest smile that she could.    
  
"Pleasure to meet you." She said, her eyes narrowed in the way that Roman knew meant that she was already trying to find all of the best ways that she could tear Qrow apart if she wanted to. Roman didn't see that expression often, it was usually one that was reserved for potential dates and new clients.    
  
Roman figured that it was a sign that Summer did actually have a thing for Taiyang, if nothing else. He couldn't really blame her for it, either. The guy seemed nice enough, and it looked like Qrow and Summer ran on similar methods.    
  
Getting under people's skin could go a really long way.

Qrow smirked. "Nice to meet ya too, what was it, Su-"    
  
"Summer." The short woman cut him off. "Summer Rose."

Qrow nodded, like he was already accepting that Summer wasn't going to take anything that he said to her sitting down. "Nice name." Qrow's eyes flicked over to the door that Taiyang and James had left from. He stared at it for just a moment.    
  
Roman couldn’t tell whether he was sizing Taiyang up, even now. Or maybe he was trying to size Summer up.   
  
Honestly, Roman liked that. Qrow guy seemed like he may have been a little bit of a mess, but at the very least he wore the look and the personality pretty well.  Looking back, it was this sort of thing that had gotten Roman and him into the same corner not too long ago.   
  
Junior nodded slowly. He sighed and looked over at Roman, with an apologetic look on his face. Roman wasn't sure exactly what it was that Junior would have to apologize for. He couldn't think of anything that he could say or do to perhaps assuage Junior's worries.

He couldn’t bring up that he and Qrow knew each other. Not really.    
  
In the end, Roman just ended up nudging Junior with his elbow. He tried hard not to think about the fact that Junior was exceedingly warm at his side. This wasn't the time or the place to go thinking about that, and Roman knew that very well. Besides, there wasn't anything between the two of them.    
  
All that there was was a one-sided sort of affection at best. Junior probably wasn't interested in him, and Roman had long since accepted that fact. The guy probably had a love life of his own, from which people like Roman were excluded.    
  
It sucked, but Roman was willing to accept that. Once this job was done, he probably was never going to see Junior again anyways. If anything, his main contact with Junior would just be the occasional check-ins to see whether or not he needed to step back in or not.    
  
Thinking of that left a feeling on Roman's chest that felt like someone was pushing down on him and pinning him into place. It was just about the worst feeling that he'd ever had, but he did his best not to think about it. 

A second time, Qrow drew the entire table's attention to him as he stood up at the end of it. He looked them all over, then to his glass, then back around it. "I'm gonna order some pitchers, how's that sound?"

Roman felt his eyes widen as he thought about it. There were going to be a few people that weren't going to be able to drink anything. He wouldn't be able to, and he was sure that Junior probably wasn't going to be in the mood for a drink.    
  
Summer waved her hand to signal that she wasn't interested in a drink. Roman frowned and looked up at Qrow before mouthing a silent "no."    
  
The front door to the restaurant opened, and then Taiyang was coming back in, looking noticeably calmer with James in tow. Qrow looked up at the pair, smirked, then asked them about the pitcher as well. Taiyang grinned, like he was in for some drinks, but James just politely declined before nudging his way past Qrow so that he could reach his seat again.    
  
Qrow disappeared from the table, and then things seemed to relax a bit. Roman leaned forward a bit and tried to make eye contact between him and Raven before speaking up. 

"Is he always like that?"    
  
"Yeah." Raven answered, sighing heavily. "Sadly, he is. I'm sorry about him."    
  
"I don't mind." Roman said before looking between Raven and Junior. "Any reason he doesn't go to Xiong's?"    
  
Raven sighed heavily, like she didn't have a very good answer to Roman's question, but she presented it anyways because it seemed like that was easier than dealing with the fact that not answering would probably just come off weird. She reached up and carded her fingers through her black hair roughly and looked back over her shoulder to check that Qrow wasn't on his way.    
  
Her red eyes slid back over in Roman's direction, then spoke up. "He and I decided that it was for the best if the two of us didn't end up at the same gym. We get angry at each other too easily and we like to be able to-" 

"Leave things behind in the ring." Roman answered, eyes widening slightly in recognition as he figured out what was going on. It made entirely too much sense, for the two of them to want to stay away from each other when they were both involved in a field where violence was the norm for them.    
  
He respected it, really.    
  
Raven nodded slowly, confirming Roman's suspicions.    
  
At her side, James was sitting there with his eyes focused away from the group and looking entirely too tense. Roman wanted to ask the guy if he was okay, but he had the feeling that he already knew the answer to that question. It would, in all likelihood, be a resounding  _ no  _ that one would theoretically be able to hear for years afterwards. 

Roman wondered why James was acting so off.

Qrow was on his way back to the table, this time carrying a pitcher of beer and a clean glass for himself, since it had seemed that nobody else was really interested in partaking along with him. Roman felt a pang of slight guilt at the realization that Qrow was probably being put into a position that left him drinking alone, but at the same time, he couldn't really feel that much guilt about the whole thing. 

He had to drive that night, after all. Most of them did.   
  
That wasn’t going to be going away as a factor anytime soon, either.

Qrow set the pitcher on the table before flopping back into his seat. To Roman’s surprise, he didn’t actually set the cleaned glass down in front of him. Instead, Qrow passed it off to Raven and went about filling both of their glasses. Roman couldn’t help but to wonder whether or not the two of them would be able to finish off the entire pitcher between the two of them, but he also wasn’t sure that he was completely compelled to ask that question or not.    
  
It would probably just end up coming off as weird as he did.    
  
Roman shook his head and stood up, stretching his legs. He looked at the door, and realized that it didn’t look like his food was going to be arriving at the table anytime soon. His eyes slid over to Summer, and he gestured to the door, silently asking whether or not she wanted to make the escape so that the two of them could get some fresh air while it was still possible to do that. 

Summer’s eyes widened slightly at the realization of what she was being asked, and she got up herself. Roman watched as she smoothed down her skirt, and even watched the way that Taiyang’s eyes seemed to follow her as the two of them turned so that they could leave the bar, if only for a few minutes.    
  
Roman made a beeline for the door, and pushed it open before stepping outside and breathing in the cool night air. He was used to having to make these sorts of escapes while he was on the job normally. Normally, he would get sick of the way that the clubs would start to smell of booze and sweat and he would do his absolute best to orchestrate his escapes.    
  
Tonight, he just felt like he needed a little bit of distance from the crowd that he’d found himself in, hobbled-together as it was.    
  
Roman walked to the corner of what looked like a small fenced-in pen that was outside of the front door of the bar. Summer followed after him, and to none of his surprise, she squeezed herself into the corner because that was ultimately the most comfortable place to be in out there.    
  
Roman could stand guard and put his body between himself and anyone that wanted to bother her. He wasn’t the biggest or the most aggressive guy in the world, but he was at least tall enough that he could bring something to the table. Summer stared up at him with a curious look on her face, and it was then that Roman realized that he really needed to explain himself and why they were out there.    
  
Like, now.    
  
“I just needed some quiet.” Roman whispered. He didn’t give away the truth of what was going on- which was that Qrow had turned the entire affair awkward just by showing up, and that Roman couldn’t seem to pull his head away from the fact that Junior was constantly at his side and moving against him.    
  
He wasn’t sure why the two of them had decided to squeeze into the booth with James. Roman knew that a part of him had done it so that Summer wouldn’t end up feeling uncomfortable if she found herself squished up against Taiyang.    
  
Though watching the two of them over the course of the night, Roman wasn’t quite sure that was even possible at that point. He closed his eyes, and tried not to think about how awkward he was feeling, despite being with good company. He sighed heavily, and shot Summer the most confident looking smile that he was able to muster.    
  
“Did you really need some quiet?” Summer asked, keeping her voice low in volume. “You know that you’re allowed to say if you aren’t comfortable.”    
  
Roman’s eyes slid back over to the door, and he shook his head. “Somehow, I don’t think it would have made much of a difference if I did."   
  
Summer's eyes went all gentle at that, and Roman couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking when he saw the way that her expression softened. In the back of his mind, he knew fully well that the two of them should have gone back inside to rejoin everyone, but instead, he just stood there with Summer and shoved his hands down deep into his pockets.    
  
At least this way he didn't have to face the fact that things were a complete mess right now. At least this way he didn't have to deal with the fact that he was going to have Junior constantly brushing up against him when he inevitably went back inside and sat down. Or Qrow’s knowing eyes on him.

"You know things are going to be okay, right Roman?" Summer asked, stepping a little closer to him so that she could establish some eye contact between them.    
  
Roman put on his best smirk and stood back upright. He turned a little bit and leaned against the side of the pen next to Summer and peered out at the street where he could still see the cars passing by. "I know." Roman said, keeping himself level as he did so. 

Summer turned and faced out at the road as well. Roman could almost feel her fingers brush against his in a comforting motion, but he made a point not to pay it too much attention.    
  
"So the reason you're feeling awkward..." Summer started, like she was weighing every word before she let it out in fear of upsetting Roman somehow. It wouldn't happen, but Roman knew what she was doing. He always knew what she was doing.    
  
"Qrow." Roman answered, knowing that was what she was asking him for. "Among other things."    
  
"What sorts of other things?" Summer asked, almost humming cockily with the words. Roman was sure that if she could have, she would have been lighting a cigarette in the most condescending manner right then, but Roman didn't mind that fact so much.    
  
Roman let out a low laugh and shook his head. His red hair swayed about his head and Roman found himself squeezing his eyes shut for just a moment. "Things I can't talk about." Roman finally admitted. "You know-" 

Summer hummed again, and this time the sound almost seemed to crawl underneath Roman's skin in an uncomfortable way that he didn't want to have to go too far to acknowledge. "He's nice, Roman." She said, much to Roman's surprise. "You know the rules."    
  
"That's why I'm not talking about it." Roman said pointedly. He shifted his body now so that he wasn't leaning up against the fencepost anymore. His eyes drifted over to the front door of the restaurant and he let out a low sigh.    
  
It was probably about time that the two of them went back in, if only for the sake of avoiding looks that neither Roman nor Summer would appreciate much from the others.    
  
Summer's eyes tracked him, and it only took her a moment to realize exactly what it was that Roman was doing. She stepped away from the fence as well, and Roman could hear the sound of her brushing her hands off on her skirt.    
  
Together, the two of them went back to the table, where Taiyang was talking happily about something with the uninvited guest at the table over a basket of wings.

So the food had arrived while they were out.    
  
Roman approached the table, flashed Junior a smile, and slipped into the side of the booth that he'd been using. He looked down at the food that had been set out in front of his seat, and looked around for the stack of napkins that had probably been brought to the table.    
  
Finding it, Roman pulled them close.    
  
He tried not to think about the way that his elbow brushed against Junior too much. It wasn't easy to do, but he had to do it, for both of their sakes.    
  
It would have been  _ inappropriate  _ to think about it too deeply. 

Though that wasn't to say that he hadn't already done plenty of things that were considered wildly inappropriate for someone in his position.   
  
Summer seated herself next to Taiyang, and put on the brightest smile that she could- one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle up slightly in joy.    
  
Roman let his eyes drift back over to Junior, who was sitting upright and smiling as he laughed and joked with the others at the table about something. He couldn't help but watch Junior, albeit discreetly the entire time. He noticed the way that Junior's cheeks seemed to puff up a little bit when he smiled, and the way that he would shake his head when he laughed most of the time. Even the little crinkle in his nose that would appear with a smile.    
  
All at once, Roman didn't know how to breathe. He tore his eyes away from Junior, and stared down at his meal as it sat in front of him. He wasn't hungry all of a sudden, and Roman couldn't help but to think about how he could so easily just claim illness and drive home.    
  
The others wouldn't know, but Summer would know that he was full of shit. 

Again, Junior's elbow nudged against his, though this time it seemed to be unintentional. Something in his chest yearned for it to be more than that, but he knew that was hoping for far too much. It was wrong, but he still did it.    
  
So instead of focusing any of his attentions on Junior or the others at the table, Roman sat quietly and he did his best to enjoy his meal that he no longer felt hungry enough to eat. The others at the table were content to laugh and joke, but Roman couldn't escape the utterly wrong feeling that was buidling up in him.    
  
When it came time to go home, the most Roman could manage as a goodbye was a weak smile and a shy wave before he was getting into his car alone- Summer was getting Taiyang to drive her home, apparently.    
  
Roman seated himself in his car and didn't lower the cover. Instead, he just stared forward at the road in front of him.    
  
All at once, a thousand emotions flowed out of him, and he leaned forward, letting out a dry, heaving sob.   
  
What the hell was wrong with him?    


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter legitimately features a drink and food special that made me go broke on several occasions. Fun times. 
> 
> Comments are love!


	22. Breathe Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mail Day.

The weekend rolling around meant a lot of things. It meant that Junior would inevitably lose contact with Roman, it meant that he was going to have to really start buckling down on everyone's training, and it meant that he was going to have some time where he could finally just sit down and  _ think  _   
  
Not that any of that was going to happen.    
  
But Junior needed his time.    


On friday morning Junior and James arrived at the gym as early as they always did. It was going to be a rough morning, if James' calculations were correct. When they'd gotten home the night before, James had been talking about how they probably had bills to look forward to.    
  
Junior was seriously afraid to know what the damage would be. Not knowing how bad the amount owed was just as bad as knowing, in some ways.    
  
As far as he knew, they were doing better, and Junior was almost certain that James had managed to figure out which accounts were in need of filling. Whether they'd been actually filled or not was the question. 

But it was James- the likelihood that they hadn’t been paid off was low.   
  
Junior tried to ignore the low churn in his stomach as he pulled into the parking lot. At his side, James was sitting, though he was staring out the window instead of paying any attention to Junior.    
  
He figured that James was probably feeling about the same amount of pressure as he was about the whole thing.    
  
This was going to be bad. It was entirely possible, Junior realized, that this entire thing would just turn out to be a financial bloodbath and that he and James would have to go crying and screaming to Roman's office in search of help.    
  
That was his absolute  _ last  _ resort.    
  
The car parked, Junior just took a moment to close his eyes and try to force himself to breathe evenly instead of letting the stress get too far under his skin.    
  
This was probably going to be bad, assuming that the bills arrived that day. There was even the possibility that they wouldn't be there, but Junior doubted that. For as long as he could remember, the bills for the gym always arrived once a month like clockwork.    
  
The odds that they weren't there felt incredibly low- at least in Junior's mind.    
  
Junior let out the breath that he'd taken in. For just a moment, he let his grip on the steering wheel tighten as all of the tension that had seemed to have built up in his body came to a head all at once.   
  
He just had to make it through the day, Junior reminded himself. This wasn't the end of the world, it just meant that potential end of his family's business.    
  
Ok.   
  
_ That  _ didn't help.    
  
"-nior?" A voice broke through the haze of Junior's mind, and he looked up, to see that James was staring at him with a soft look on his face and an expression that wasn't entirely readable.    
  
_ Shit _ .    
  
Junior swallowed and sat upright. Tried to think of something that he could say to make this better, but nothing came to mind. It was more than just a little bit unsatisfying to think about.    
  
"Junior, are you alright?" James asked, his voice softer than Junior could remember it ever having been. At least in the last few years, it had seemed like all the softness had flowed out of James. But now...   
  
Junior blinked. Forced himself back to reality and reached down for his seatbelt so that he could get out. He couldn't let James worry about him, that wasn't how things tended to go anymore and Junior  _ knew _ that.    
  
"Yeah." He managed, expression tight. "I'm fine."    
  
James' mouth parted, like he wanted to go ahead and say something that could comfort Junior, but then he just shook his head. He mimicked Junior's motions, and the two of them both got out of the car at about the same time.    
  
Junior made a beeline for the truck, where he'd left his usual duffel bag. This morning he'd filled it with some of his dirty laundry so that he wouldn't have to worry about paying to do it back at the apartment building. James walked up beside him, slowly, and waited silently.    
  
Junior swallowed, suddenly becoming impossibly aware of the other man's presence.    
  
He heard James sigh, and with a look out of the corner of his eye he could watch as James scrubbed his hair back out of his face with his left hand. Naturally, the black locks just fell back into place as they always did, but James was getting frustrated.    
  
It was there in the way that James stood, and the way that he grit his teeth and worked his jaw before saying anything. "I'm worried about them too, Junior." James said. "If that's-"    
  
James cut himself off. He stepped away, with his hands buried deep down into his pockets. Junior picked his head up so that he could watch James, and he watched the way that James picked up his head and looked towards the building. "I'll just..." James started. "I'll open up."    
  
He stepped away, leaving Junior alone at the car so that he could get his things without having to worry about any sort of interruption.    
  
Junior picked up the bag and squeezed his eyes shut. He just had to make it through the day, Junior reminded himself. That was all that he had to do, was make it through-   
  
The sound of metal creaking shot Junior into high alert. He picked his head up and nearly whipped it around so that he could check whether James was alright. Creaking metal was  _ never-  _   
  
His eyes fell on James, who was holding the mailbox that was attached to the front of the building open with a patently bored expression on his face. Junior managed to breathe, and he closed the trunk of his car.    
  
Started the seemingly oceans-wide walk that was going to bring him over to where James was now standing.    
  
As he approached, he recognized the light-green paper envelope that he had learned to associate with their landlord. He watched as James turned it over, checking the back to ensure that they were in fact the first ones to look at the mail. Junior didn't know why James would make that move, but he always did.    
  
When he would ask about it, James would never give him an answer as to where that little habit came from. Probably from when James was still in the military, Junior had always guessed.    
  
It always came up as a sore subject. Junior knew why.    
  
James looked up from the envelope and over at Junior. He let out a low sigh that Junior couldn't quite place a meaning for and then looked at the door.    
  
James passed the envelope off to Junior and reached down into his pocket so that he could unlock the door to the gym. Junior stared down at the envelope silently while he waited.    
  
He wasn’t ready to face this. Neither of them were.    
  
But there wasn’t any avoiding it. Whether Junior liked it or not, this was something that they had to face, and it wasn’t going to be easy.    
  
The door to the gym opened, and James stepped inside first. Junior watched James’ figure, the way that James made a point to avoid looking at the trophy case by the door as a way of hiding his shame.    
  
Junior even found himself mimicking the motion on the way in before closing the door behind them.    
  
The gym was always an eerie place so early in the morning. It was always dark, and the lights were going to need a few minutes before they were warmed up enough to actually light the damn place.    
  
Most of all, though, it was cold. Terribly cold. The kind of cold that worked into your bones and refused to let you go because you were the one that dared to turn the heat off at night in a building made from concrete.    
  
The only sounds that filled the entire space were the sounds of James and Junior’s footsteps. Both heavy, one lopsided. The sound of the office door opening. The quiet electrical hum of the lights being turned on.    
  
Chairs being moved around. James sitting down.   
  
Junior closed the door behind him so that he didn't have to worry about anyone coming to bother them. He stepped forward to one of the empty chairs and seated himself, just across the table from where James always sat.    
  
The silence hanged between the two of them and didn't break.    
  
It wasn't going to break until one of them- Junior didn't know which one of them it would end up being, went ahead and broke the seal on the envelope. One of them was going to have to do it. One of them was going to have to see how badly they were off.    
  
It was entirely possible that they might come out looking alright. Monthly dues to the gym plus any accounts being paid up all the way might have been just enough to let them operate as normal for one more month.    
  
Whether it would carry the business for another month was an even greater question.    
  
Junior leveled his eyes on James. James looked back at him and just inhaled deeply. Junior watched as James opened up a small drawer in the desk to remove his reading glasses, a small ritual that James seemed to always carry through every month when this happened. Once the glasses were on James' face, that was it.    
  
James picked up the green envelope in his right hand, and tore it open with his ring finger on his left. Slowly, he removed the folded papers inside and set them down on the table in front of where he was sitting, one by one.    
  
There were two papers inside of the envelope. One, which was just a simple white sheet that looked like it was just simple printer paper- their actual bill. The other was green paper, much like the envelope that they'd gotten everything in.    
  
That, in all likelihood, would be from their landlord. Junior didn't actually know much of anything about the guy that they paid their bills to. He had spoken to him once when his father had passed away, and hadn't had much contact besides that.    
  
Hearing from him was a rarity. Junior was deeply concerned for what that letter could possibly mean.    
  
Neither him nor James said anything. There was this silent question that lingered between the two of them that asked which message they should open first. Which news they feared more. He peered across the desk at James, and opened his mouth to speak up.    
  
"Bill?" Junior asked, looking down at the plain white paper. James nodded and reached out for the white paper and picked it up.   
  
Silence again.    
  
James inhaled deeply, then unfolded the bill.    
  
Junior watched the way that James' eyes scanned over the numbers there with a terribly schooled expression. If there was any fear in James' body, it wasn't going to be announced until they were home for a while. And even then, it wouldn't be until James was locked away in his own room out of sight.    
  
The sound of a ticking of the clock filled the room, and then James finally spoke. "We're off." He finally announced, frowning. James set the paper down on the table between them so that Junior could look at the damage  for himself.    
  
Inhale.    
  
Exhale.    
  
Pick up the paper so that he could actually see what was wrong. He didn't know what he was going to end up seeing there on their bill, but if they were off for the amount owed, that was a very bad thing. Junior just hoped that however much it would cost it would be something that they could come up with out of pocket.    
  
If worst came to worst, Junior wasn't afraid to go to his mother for help. James may have been, but depending on how bad it was, Junior wasn't.    
  
Finally, in one clean motion, Junior unfolded the bill and began to let his eyes scan it over. All in all, they owed about four hundred dollars. It wasn't a very good amount, but it was something that they could manage, at least in theory.    
  
He sighed and set the sheet down before picking his head up to make direct eye contact with James. There was still the second note that they were going to have to deal with, and Junior wasn't sure what it was going to be.    
  
Admonishments on being later for other payments perhaps? Or maybe it would be some outreach in sympathy? Or maybe it was just going to be an announcement about how their payments were going to go up-   
  
Junior tried very hard to cut himself off from that thought because that was the absolute last thing that he needed to be thinking about. He didn't need to think of more ways for things to get worse. No, that was at the very bottom of the list of things that he should have been thinking or worrying about. Junior's eyes slid to James', and he just earned a nod.    
  
Junior set down the bill and reached out for the second paper that had been inside of the envelope. Carefully, he picked it up. He could feel the paper under his fingers, and the first thing that he realized was that the paper was of extremely high quality in comparison to the printer paper that he was used to.   
  
He didn't know what to expect even less than he had before.    
  
James spoke up. "Are you going to-"   
  
"I am." Junior cut him off as he began to unfold the paper. "I just-"   
  
"Yeah." James sighed. He sounded just as tired as Junior was. "Me too."    
  
It was all that needed to be said.   
  
Junior unfolded the paper, and stared down at it. There was a message there, only a paragraph or two long, all written in the same uneven black scrawl that was incredibly hard to read. He let his eyes scan over the message there once as he tried to figure out just what it said.    
  
Whoever had sent this had either very messy handwriting, or they were simply uncaring about how legible things were. Junior figured that this landlord- Ozpin, he thought the guy's name was, probably didn't come down from his ivory tower much to trifle with others.    
  
Come to think of it, Ozpin probably wasn't even his real name.   
  
Junior tried not to focus simply on that and began to read the note aloud.    
  
"Mister Xiong." He started. For just a second he let his eyes flick up to meet James' before going back down to the paper. "I"m well aware of the fact that your-" Junior stumbled on a particularly illegible word. "- _ payment _ last month was behind schedule. I am willing to disregard this fact as long as this month's payments are on time."    
  
James and Junior's eyes met again, as both of them did their best to figure out what Ozpin could have meant by that. Disregard? Were they being held in bad standing without even knowing about it?    
  
"Is there more?" James asked, leaning forward slightly so that he could pull the bill closer to him. Junior figured that meant that James was looking for a good way that the two of them could make their payment on time and in full.    
  
"Yeah." Junior answered, letting his eyes drift down to the second paragraph. "There is."    
  
"And?"    
  
Junior resumed his reading. "If there is any problem, I do hope that you and your brother won't be afraid to contact me. If needed, we could work out a way to make your payments slightly more manageable." Junior swallowed, realizing that they may have been handed a potential out. It wasn't much. "However, I won't be willing to make such arrangements should you be late again."    
  
Pause.    
  
"Regards, Ozpin."    
  
"That's it?" James asked, looking the bill over and over. Junior set the letter from Ozpin down in front of him and stood up so that he could wind around to the other side of the desk and join James. Already, he could see the gears in James' head turning as he tried to figure out some sort of solution for the two of them.    
  
If he left James to his own devices, Junior almost expected that he was going to have a solution by the top of the hour.    
  
However, that solution would probably result with the two of them either on the streets or unable to pay for their own bills. But usually the two of them would be able to work their way back to something reasonable from whatever James' first solution was.    
  
James passed the bill off to Junior over his shoulder and reached for a few spare sheets of paper from the printer that was behind him. He laid them out on the desk directly in front of him and then grabbed up a pen so that he could begin writing down any important numbers.    
  
It was always interesting, watching the way that James would work when he got invested into things. Junior looked from the paper that James had handed him then over to the clock. It was going to be time for them to actually open soon, and when that happened-    
  
Junior wondered whether or not talking to some of the regulars about ways to help pay off the debt would be enough. Maybe if he explained the entire situation and all of its intricacies, then maybe he would be able to get a little bit of money from them.    
  
Twenty dollars here, and fifty dollars there didn't sound like much, but if it meant that they could keep the gym open, Junior was more than willing to ask.    
  
It was another area where Junior was willing to bet that James wouldn't be much in favor of them going, but there was a small part of Junior that told him that should he have to, there was absolutely nothing wrong with him going ahead and trying to put his foot down.    
  
James' name wasn't on the deed to the business, after all. It was Junior's name, and before it had been his father's name. Never James'.    
  
Junior couldn't help but to wonder whether or not that would drive a wedge between him and James, but at the same time, Junior had become highly aware of the fact that there were certain things that James refused to say when it came to the business.    
  
Junior wasn't the one that dodged having a part in it- that was all James.    
  
If he wanted to, he could absolutely go ahead, and make things happen behind James' back.    
  
Already, Junior was running through a list of people that he could ask for help. Taiyang would probably happily throw a couple dollars their way, the same was also probably true for Peter Port. Raven would probably just make some quip about them wanting her wages.   
  
Options were kind of slim.   
  
But this, this was  _ achievable _ . They could realistically actually get this money, whether out of pocket or fundraised, or something, and then they would have a chance at lowering their payments. He’d probably have to get in contact with Roman and let the guy know-   
  
_ Roman _ .   
  
Junior didn’t actually know whether or not Roman would be interested in helping out, but he figured that at the very least he could talk to the guy about this potential change, and exactly how much it had the chance of changing.    
  
He tried not to linger too much on Roman. It was better that way.    
  
Junior looked around the room and his eyes fell on the small table next to the trophy case by the door.    
  
Well, the least that he could do was make something happen. It was his gym, after all.   



	23. Matters of Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Checking back in on work

Roman’s weekend had been an exhausting, long thing and it had been enough to leave him feeling drained to say the least.

He’d spent his entire time in and out of nightclubs, or running around the city as he tried desperately to get on top of all of his work so that he would end up with a little bit less to worry about.   
  
It wasn’t easy getting everything done between not sleeping and everything else, but somehow, Roman managed.

He’d gotten by on the same sort of schedule many times before. There was no reason for that to change now.

And so Monday Morning, he had things to do again, but this time, he was actually going to work with something to be proud of. Something that he’d put all of his energy into and was ready to show off to the world.   
  
Namely, the posters for Xiong’s were done and ready, and Roman was more than a little excited to finally be able to show off the finished product.   
  
Roman pulled up in front of Xiong's and parked by the door, which had been left open that day instead of being closed. It was odd, but Roman tried not to pay it too much mind. He figured it was just James and Junior making an effort to make the gym look as welcoming as possible, or something.   
  
He twisted in his seat, not even bothering to unbuckle himself before reaching over to the large bag that he'd stored the posters in. He wanted to go in and start getting things out of the way, but at the same time, there was a big part of Roman that was more than a little bit afraid to go in.   
  
But now the feelings that were inspiring that fear in him weren't ones that he was used to. No, now they were things like the fact that he was going to have to end up too close to Junior.   
  
If it weren’t for the night that he’d gone out for food with everyone, then he wouldn’t be feeling this way. He wouldn’t be feeling nervous about just being near Junior.   
  
It left a bad taste in Roman's mouth, knowing that he was feeling and acting the way that he was. He was supposed to be a professional, so what the hell was wrong with him? He should have been able to divorce himself from these thoughts on day one, and yet he still managed to keep failing sideways, over and over again.

Really, it just made him get angry at himself for it all.

Roman tilted his head back and inhaled deeply through his nose as he tried to steel himself for what was to come. He just sat there for a solid minute before he finally pushed the car door open, got out, and began on his way inside.   
  
The first thing that Roman noticed on the way in was that the gym looked a little cleaner than normal, like someone had obsessively decided to go through it and try to make it look as welcoming as possible.   
  
Roman wondered if they'd planned an open house or something without asking him. He stopped by the trophy case and shifted the way that his bag rested on his shoulder. He let his eyes linger on the many trinkets inside, then noticed something different.  
  
It was an old coffee can, which had been stripped of all of its labels. Whatever labels had been there once had been replaced with a sheet of paper that said "tips" plainly on it, like whoever had set it out didn't know what it was for.   
  
He recognized the handwriting as Junior's.   
  
Roman raised an eyebrow at the jar but decided to go further in. It was odd, seeing things the way that they were today. It was almost like he'd walked into an entirely different business, and Roman wasn't sure how to take that.   
  
The ring was full of people today. Raven, Taiyang, and the third shorter fighter that Roman had gotten used to seeing were all standing there, leaned back against the ropes on one side of the ring, their backs turned to him.   
  
On the other side of the ring, Roman could make out the top of Junior's head, and then he heard James' voice.   
  
"-branded gear is going to be required at the tournament." James announced proudly, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around him. "It's going to be a small fee to have them printed, but that shouldn't be such a concern-"  
  
Roman walked up to the edge of the ring, and wondered whether or not it would be considered poor etiquette to lean against it and try to catch the attention of everyone there. Whatever was happening, this was a boxing gym's equivalent of a board meeting.   
  
He peered up at the people in the ring to see that Junior was there, leaned back against the ropes with his arms crossed over his chest. Junior looked really good, Roman couldn't help but to think.  
  
_Don't think that way_ , Roman practically had to scream at himself mentally.   
  
He shook his head and set the bag with the posters in it down on a bench next to him before taking a step back so that he could sit there if he wanted to.   
  
Roman was ready to just watch, but then he saw Junior's head turn, which told Roman that he'd made an appearance in the guy's peripheral vision.  
  
Junior's grey eyes flashed down to him, and Roman saw a soft smile stretch across his face that made Roman's heart feel like it stopped for just a moment. In a quick panic, Roman realized that he  probably should go ahead and explain his presence there.  
  
He pointed down at the bag and mouthed a single word in Junior's direction. 'Posters.' Junior's grey eyes seemed to widen for just a moment, and Roman realized that Junior was probably about to ask him something out loud, and then-  
  
"Is there a problem, Roman?" James deadpanned, stepping away from the ropes where he was standing with what looked like a pair of red shorts gripped in his hand. He didn't look at all amused, which meant that James had noticed Junior's distraction.  
  
Roman let his eyes narrow, realizing that it may have been best for him to come into this with his greatest amount of confidence. "Nothing is wrong at all, Jim." Roman said. He reached out for the bag and began to unzip it.   
  
If what they wanted was an explanation, then Roman was more than happy to just go ahead and put on a show for everyone there. He removed a single copy of the poster and looked at the ring.   
He didn't actually know whether he'd be able to get up there or not without hurting himself.   
  
Or at the very least, jumping.  
  
Roman stepped up to the edge of the ring and set the poster there face-down so that he wouldn't end up accidentally spoiling how good it looked. He took a step and a half back so that he could get a running start and spring up into the ring that way.  
  
"Shoes off." James said, shaking his head like he'd figured out what was going on. "Please."  
  
Roman cocked his head, not really sure why such a request would be made, but he also decided not to question it. It wouldn't do him any good to just piss James and Junior off by disgracing their ring or something. Roman stepped back towards the bench again and seated himself so that he could quickly slip out of his shoes. He frowned and set them down next to him.   
  
He was glad that he'd bothered to wear normal socks that day instead of the soft dress socks that he preferred.   
  
Roman stood up and smoothed his shirt down in front of him before beginning to run at the ring. Once he got to the edge, he had to reach out as far as he could and launch himself towards it.  
  
Roman wasn't a very athletic man. He managed to hold onto the side of the ring, grabbing onto the ropes, which did stretch downward with his weight. Roman managed to swing a leg up onto the side of the ring and pushed himself up that way.  
  
He managed to slide into the ring under one of the ropes. Roman stared at the ceiling for just a second before realizing that it was probably best if he got up and actually put on the show that he'd originally intended to put on instead of just continue to embarrass himself.   
  
Roman reached out and picked up the poster as he got up from the floor. He took a second to just brush any dirt off of his clothes. He let out a sound, and put on his best smile.   
  
"How the hell do you guys do that?" Roman asked, looking between everyone in the ring.   
  
"Normally?" Junior asked.   
  
"Yeah." Roman said as he stepped closer to the guy. "That took _way_ more effort to get in than it should have."   
  
"Usually we just use the stairs." Junior chuckled. "But the show was nice."   
  
Roman frowned, realizing that he had indeed made as much of an ass of himself as he had thought. He shook his head and looked down at the poster, glad to see that he hadn't done anything to wrinkle the card or anything.   
  
"Anyways." Roman interjected, hoping that he'd be able to make enough of a distraction that nobody thought about what he'd done. "I've got some stuff that I think you all would be glad to see."   
  
"Really now?" James asked now, still looking terribly bored with everything else that was going on in the room. "Why don't you share with the class?"   
  
Roman frowned and looked at everyone else in the room. "You all may remember that I was in with a photographer not too long ago." Roman's eyes travelled over to Taiyang, and he couldn't help but to grin widely. "I'm not sure you'll like it though."  
  
Taiyang blinked twice, and cocked his head, like he was genuinely confused. “Why wouldn’t I-”   
  
Deciding that he’d built up enough excitement, Roman finally decided to turn the poster around and let everyone see what he had for them.   
  
At his side, James and Junior both stepped away so that they could get a good idea of what Roman had made them. Of course, the two of them had already seen early drafts of this poster, but now, it was final.   
  
Roman didn’t look down at the poster, and instead looked at the expressions of everyone else in the ring. Peter seemed interested, leaning in slightly so that he could get a better look at it. Taiyang looked like he was mildly terrified- Roman had kind of expected that.

Most guys wouldn't be a fan of having a photo of them being punched in the face being used as an advertisement.   
  
Raven though? Raven looked damn _proud_ . Her crimson eyes narrowed into slits, and Roman watched the way that she smiled over in Taiyang's direction. She nudged Taiyang's shoulder, and the blond looked over at her.   
  
"What?"   
  
"It's a good look on you, Tai Tai." Raven chuckled, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close. She then focused her gaze onto Roman. "I for one, love it."   
  
"It's quite good." Peter said, straightening back up.   
  
Roman pulled his eyes over to James and Junior, who were standing shoulder to shoulder and talking quietly about something that Roman couldn't hear. James looked neutral to the whole thing, which was partially what Roman had expected. Junior though-   
  
Junior's grey eyes had a certain light in them that Roman hadn't expected to see.   
  
Roman flashed him a quick smile and tried not to act like he was as awkward as he was feeling in that moment. He gestured towards Junior, silently asking whether or not Junior wanted to take the poster for himself to look at.   
  
He got a nod as a response, and so Roman was quick to pass it over. Junior took the poster and turned it around, holding it out in front of him so that he could get the best look of it possible. A smile creased his face, and then Junior turned his head to speak.   
  
“Do you think you’ll have an extra copy or two of this?” Junior locked eyes with Roman for just a second, looking like he was almost a little more than just excited by the new poster. Roman figured that just having it in his hands probably had quite a bit to do with how Junior was feeling, but he didn’t want to question it.   
  
“I should have a few extras.” Roman answered, blinking and stepping back before slipping his hands behind his back so that he felt like he would be a little bit less awkward. “Why?”   
  
“I think I want one to display here,” Junior said. “Maybe over the-” Junior shook his head, like he was trying to correct where his thoughts were going instead of letting himself get too far weighed down in them. “And if it’s possible, maybe I’d like one to put back at our apartment?”   
  
Roman hadn’t considered that as a thing that Junior would have wanted. Mentally, he began to go through a short list of people that he should probably see about having extra copies of the poster printed for. He figured that he’d probably want to get one to Raven, since she seemed to be more than just a little bit pleased by the fact that she’d ended up at the center of the whole thing. Maybe one for Taiyang.   
  
A quick look over in Taiyang’s direction told Roman that probably wouldn’t be necessary. The poor guy still looked like he was a little bit mortified by the fact that he was being punched in the face in what was going to be treated as an advertisement in the very near future.   
  
Roman couldn’t really blame the guy for being upset, but in his defense, it was just the image that made for the best advertisement. It had that whole underdog thing that people liked to buy into.   
  
In the end, Roman ended up just making a mental note that he should probably talk to Taiyang later about what all of this meant. Just make the guy feel a little bit better.   
  
Roman’s eyes strayed over to Raven, who was still looking like she’d just finished preening and was showing off her feathers as she established herself as the dominant personality in the room. His eyes flicked back to Taiyang, and then all at once, he got it.   
  
Yeah.   
  
He’d _definitely_ have to talk to Taiyang, if only for the sake of making the guy feel better.   
  
All at once, Roman pulled his mind away from Taiyang and focused back in on Junior, who was still looking at him like he was expecting some sort of answer to his question at any moment. There was a second where Roman let himself pout before he finally tossed his head back and let his hair fly out of his face and to the side.   
  
“I can see about having some printed for you.” Roman said, doing his best to flash Junior a quick smile. “Shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”   
  
“Thank you.” Junior said.   
  
All at once, Roman became terrifyingly aware of the fact that James was leering at him, probably due to the fact that he had in fact interrupted something. For a second, Roman almost felt bad, but instead of making apologies and trying to go, he decided not to.   
  
“Junior.” James growled the name, and all at once everyone’s heads snapped up and everyone’s eyes were on James at once. Roman watch him, watched the way that James almost shrank back with everyone’s eyes on him and sighed very heavily. “We have to finish our-”

James held up the pair of shorts that he still had in his hand to prove a point.   
  
Junior sighed heavily and looked down at Roman before handing the poster back over so that it wouldn't get damaged. "He's right." Junior said quietly, standing up and stretching slightly. "We were in the middle of something."   
  
Roman took the poster back and nodded before turning to face everyone else that was in the room. "Everyone's good?"   
  
"Yeah." Raven said, flashing him the first smile that Roman had ever seen from her.   
  
Roman nodded and walked over to the edge of the ring. He kneeled down and set the poster down so that he wouldn't risk damaging it while he climbed down. He needed to take some time to climb down, and then once he was on the ground, Roman picked up the poster.   
  
He stepped away from the ring, and set the poster back down in the case where it had been before he'd decided to go ahead and show it off to the world. He took the time to zip the bag shut and then took a second to just look around the room.   
  
Now that he'd managed to get his work here done, Roman didn't actually know what he was doing there anymore. He saw the bench, and wondered if maybe sitting and watching for a little bit would be considered distracting.   
  
If anything, the only person who would get frustrated with him would probably be James, and even then, if all that James wanted to do was finish a meeting, then Roman didn't think that he was doing any harm by being there for a bit.   
  
So he ended up taking a seat on the bench, where he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back slightly as he just watched James talk.   
  
As it turned out, they were just having a meeting on tournament etiquette and rules. The shorts, it turned out, were going to be how they were going to be both identified in matches and also how they were going to advertising the gym.   
  
There was also some talk about getting printing done on the covers for their gloves, and for a moment Roman realized that there were probably some costs that he hadn't considered at first when he'd gotten involved in this place.   
  
He stood up and removed his phone from his pocket. Roman looked at the door to the office and gestured to it for just a moment to catch either James or Junior's attention.   
  
He caught James'. He pointed at the door, and then the phone. James' brow furrowed for just a second before he won a nod of approval.   
  
Roman slipped into the office and seated himself in the one plush office chair that was there. He looked down at the desk for just a moment, and let himself get lost in everything that was laid out there.   
  
The desk was very plain, with the few things that were out there just being an old-fashioned desk calendar that was maintained in James' mostly steady hand. Roman leaned forward and looked the desk over as carefully as he possibly could, looking for anything that could help answer some questions for him the entire time.   
  
In theory, doing things like making sure that their equipment had advertisements were things that should have been falling squarely on his shoulders. His job was to win them business, and these were all things that Roman would have considered advertising.   
  
He didn't have even the slightest idea as to how he was going to manage to help with all of this stuff. Roman just found what looked like a spare pen and grabbed a clean sheet of paper from the printer before he began to do his research and make a lot of phone calls.   
  
Roman didn't actually know how long he was in the office. He just knew that he had a lot of things to do, and he was only really broken out of the haze of his work by the sound of someone opening the door.   
  
Roman's head shot up, and he instinctively brought a hand over the receiver on his phone so that he could ask what was wrong.   
  
It was James standing there, with the pair of shorts in his hand and a weird look on his face. The guy looked awkward, and he even leaned back against the wall out of the way so that he was out of the way.   
  
Roman nodded, understanding, then finished his call and scribbled down a note or two before looking up at James. "What's up?"   
  
"I could ask you the same." James said, stepping up to the side of the desk. "Could you get something for me?"   
  
"What is it?" Roman asked, scooting back in the seat just a bit since he figured that he was going to be looking for something in one of the drawers.   
  
"The third drawer down on the left." James said, keeping his voice terrifyingly level. "There should be a box of envelopes."   
  
Roman was already there, pulling the drawer open before he even knew what he was looking for. He paused and looked, seeing that there were in fact two boxes of envelopes, just different lengths. "Long or short?"   
  
"Long." James answered. Roman removed one of the envelopes and set it down on the desk in front of him before closing the drawer and looking up to meet James' eyes. James took a step forward and put two fingers on the envelope before sliding it towards him. "First drawer."   
  
Roman opened the drawer, realizing that James was probably about to ask for him to get something else. "What'll it be?"   
  
"The green envelope, please."   
  
For just a moment, Roman didn't know what he was looking for because who used green stationary, but then he found the envelope. He slid it out and flashed it so that James could confirm whether or not he'd grabbed the right envelope or not.   
  
"That's the one." James said, offering his hand. Roman passed the envelope over before closing the drawer. He watched as James pulled a chair up to the edge of the desk and awkwardly opened the green envelope.   
  
What he removed looked like some sort of bill, and Roman couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He didn't know whether or not he should have asked James what this was all about or not. Roman didn't say anything to James, he just leaned back in his seat and began to engross himself in his work again.   
  
"How much do you guys normally pay for your gear to be customized?" Roman asked, quietly as he looked over the sheet of paper that he'd been taking his notes down on.   
  
James' brow furrowed. "Why?"   
  
“I figured it probably fell under my job duties.” Roman answered. He leaned across the desk slightly so that he could hand James the sheet of paper that he’d been working on for evaluation. “So I was shopping around to see if I could get a good price.”   
  
James’ eyes went soft, and then locked with Roman’s. It was perhaps the softest that he’d ever seen James go, especially in a business context, and then James’ voice came as well, equally soft. “You know you don’t have to do that, right?”   
  
“What do you mean?” Roman asked, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest as he made himself comfortable. “My job is to advertise for you guys, this would definitely qualify.”   
  
James nodded and swallowed before looking down at his work again. “We usually pay about two hundred and fifty dollars for the lot.”   
  
Roman hesitated for just a moment and then nodded slowly. It was a good enough answer, and it was an exceptionally helpful one, even.   
  
He turned his attentions back onto his work, and did his absolute best to ignore James' presence there in the room as he worked.

Roman’s main concern was making sure that things went well enough there. Having someone that was willing to help out went a pretty long way.

He was glad for that.


	24. Panic State

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember to breathe, its important.

As the tournament drew nearer and nearer, Junior could feel his own nerves rising higher and higher. The gravity of what was going on was starting to get to him, and there wasn't much that he could do to get out from under it. In a way, it felt like he was just doomed to be crushed under all the pressure. 

It was almost two in the morning. 

James had insisted that he didn't mind going home for a bit, and so it meant that Junior was mostly free to do whatever he wanted.

He and James were in the ring. It wasn't their usual arrangement- James was moving well enough that he'd brought out the bag and was comfortably hiding behind it.

Usually, Junior wouldn't put himself in the same ring as James. There was enough of a height difference between the two of them that usually James wasn't comfortable in combat with him- regardless of whether or not the bag was there to protect him.

But at the same time, it was comfortable. It was a chance for the two of them to talk and get all of their frustrations out at once instead of getting dragged down.

They didn't get many nights like this one anymore.

Junior stretched and stepped into the corner that he'd decided to take as his. He picked his head up and watched as James dropped the pad for just a moment to rub at his shoulder for just a second.

"Are you feeling alright?" Junior asked, keeping his voice on the lower end of the spectrum mostly out of sheer habit instead of anything else.

"Just a little sore." James mumbled. He leaned back against the ropes for just a second and Junior just watched as James worked the tips of his fingers into the space where Junior knew James’ arm connected into his shoulder- all prosthetic. Whether James was finding actual relief or would do this out of habit was something Junior always wondered about. 

Junior dropped his hands and began the effort that was getting himself out of the gloves so that he didn't have to feel like his fingers were trapped. It took some effort, but he slipped out of the gloves and climbed out of the ring so that he could get two bottles of water from the fridge in the office.

When he got back, James was sitting against one of the turnstiles in the ring with his head tilted back and his eyes closed, still massaging his shoulder. Junior didn't climb back in immediately. He took just enough time to see that James' bruise was all but completely healed at this point.

He stepped back into the ring and dropped one of the bottles next to James' leg before also seating himself on the canvas. James' eyes opened and Junior  _ felt  _ those blue eyes on him. He could hear the sound of James shifting slightly in the space that he'd taken as a seat and was glad to see that James was opening the bottle of water and drinking deeply from it.

Junior frowned as he tried to think of anything that he could say to James.

"Rough day?" He asked. Junior didn't actually know what James got up to that day back in the office. A lot of the time, it ended up being things that left James under so much stress that the guy could barely sleep. But Junior also knew that James had spent part of the day in the office with Roman.

He could only guess how stressful that had ended up being. Junior liked Roman just fine, but he couldn’t exactly speak for anyone else. Especially when James’ moods and opinions seemed to have a tendency to fluctuate according to astral alignment. Just because James was okay with Roman a week ago didn’t mean that he was now.

“Things are alright.” James said with a sigh. “Most of my day has just been trying to figure out where we can cut from the budget. Roman’s helping but-” James shook his head. “I don’t know it’ll be enough to save your-”

James cut himself off before he was able to finish that sentence, almost like he was afraid of what would happen if he tried to do so. He shook his head and looked away from Junior, bringing one hand up so that he could cap the bottle of water. "Mind taking the pad?"

Junior bit back the things that he wanted to say- the things that would probably come off as a little harsher than he wanted them to. Things like comments on James' continued refusal to acknowledge the gym as a family business and what that meant by extension. 

They always frustrated Junior.

But he could never think of something to say.

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'll do it." Junior finally said. "But if you start hurting we're stopping." He shot James a pointed look that probably was a little bit harsher than necessary. He almost saw James recoil, and he had to try hard not to think about that fact.

He knew what it meant- but it wasn't really his place to bring such things up.

"I'm not hurting that bad." James said in a quiet defense of himself as he stood up. "I was just taking the pad for you. It was going to work into my shoulder whether I liked it or not."

"So you're blaming me?" Junior half laughed as he forced himself up to his feet and picked up the bag for himself. "Real classy."

"I'm not blaming  _ anyone _ ." James answered, also pushing himself up to his feet. Junior watched as James clambered out of the ring so that he could get a set of gloves for himself- though Junior halfway expected that James would only end up taking one for his left hand and just end up ignoring that he even had a right hand. "I'm just saying-" James pulled down a pair of blue gloves and began to slip into them. "That it's hard on anyone being behind that thing."

Junior sighed and set his bottle down on the edge of the ring so that he wouldn't have to worry about it too much. He hoisted up the bag with one arm and prepared to swing it up in front of his chest and carry it like a shield if he had to. "You keep saying that, Jim." Junior said, half-challenging as James climbed in across from him. He watched the way that James pushed up his left sleeve.

He almost wished that he'd see James do the same on the other side, but at the same time, Junior knew that wasn't going to be happening.

It had been nearly two years and James still wasn't ready for that.

James smiled- a genuine smile that wrinkled the edges of his eyes and lifted his hands up in front of him before falling into his fighting stance.

Junior retreated into the corner of the ring, while James took the opposite side.

"To three?" James asked, taking just a moment to stretch.

"Sounds good." Junior called back. He inhaled deeply and then stepped forward. He kept the pad low enough that he'd still be able to see where James was moving.

James started his advance on Junior, not particularly fast nor particularly slow. If anything, the pace that was set was simply leisurely. This wasn't about working out for James- this was about getting out some frustration. Junior knew that.

Junior stepped towards James, knowing that he probably wouldn't be competing much with the guy during all of this. He lifted the pad up, braced against it, and smiled. "So, what's on your mind?" He asked, knowing that James wouldn't have asked him for this without having some reason to do so.

"Money." James answered, twisting his body into the first punch. "What else would it be?"

"How bad's the damage?"

"We're still short." James answered. "Roman wants to help with getting gear for the tournament, which helps us a little bit-" James stepped back as Junior tried to lash out with the bottom of the pad to see whether or not he could tag James in the stomach or not. James threw a quick punch as retaliation. "-but we still need money if we want to get on Ozpin's good side."

"Have you counted the jar?"

"Fifty." James answered. "We're still short."

Junior stepped into James' range, only for James to immediately shift back out of his. "Does Roman know-"

"I didn't talk to him about it." James admitted. "It didn't really come up. Besides, I figured-" James threw another punch, this time low rather than high. "-You're probably going to get through to him better than I could anyways?"

What?

Junior almost stumbled as he received yet another punch, this time coming from James' right side rather than his left, which James was making a habit of leading with instead of his normal stances. The worst part was that Junior couldn't tell whether the stumble was a result of his being caught off guard or whether it was a result of the fact that James' right arm tended to deliver much more  _ forceful  _ blows than the other did.

He managed to recover and re-solidify his stance. "What do you mean?" Junior asked, lashing out with the bag again and successfully striking James in the ribs on the left side.

James pulled back and dropped his hands. He'd already managed to work up a bit of a sweat. Junior lowered the bag slightly and kept his eyes on James. He watched James' gait as his brother walked back to the other side of the ring.

"What I mean is that..." James seemed to hesitate for a long moment. Junior got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that James was probably doing his best to figure out what the best possible way to censor himself would be.

That  _ never  _ made Junior feel good. 

It was how James would act when he was worried that he'd end up inadvertently insulting Junior by just saying what his honest thoughts were. James exhaled audibly out his nose, nostrils flaring. He shook his head, looked down, and brought his hands back up in front of him to signal that he was ready for combat before he spoke again. "He just likes you a lot, that's all."

"I mean, we're friends." Junior said with a shrug. He stretched slightly then lifted the pad back up in front of his chest. "Why wouldn't he like me?"

James shot Junior a look that almost looked confused, and Junior couldn't figure out what it meant. "Oh my god." James muttered. He shook his head, and some shaggy black hair fell into his face. "You're a brick wall."

Junior cocked his head to the side as he tried to figure out what James meant. He couldn’t think of any reason for James to call him a brick wall unless it was referring to his build. “What do you mean?” Junior finally asked. He brought the training bad down in front of his chest, just a little bit.

“What do I-” James started and then stopped again. He looked a little bit like he was about to have an aneurysm, Junior realized. “Junior.” James began, keeping his tone as level as possible. “Roman likes you in ways that one normally wouldn’t like a friend.”

“So-”

“Oh my god.” Inhale. “You know that he flirts with you constantly,  _ right _ ?”

Okay, so Junior  _ did  _ know that, but he’d always been under the impression that that was just a side-effect of Roman’s personality as opposed to having some sort of meaning. For just a moment, he had to wonder whether James was misreading Roman, or whether it was the other way around.

He felt his cheeks heat up as the reality of what it actually may have been began to crash down on him. Junior dropped the bag and turned away from James, feeling entirely too embarrassed to keep on standing there like everything was good and wonderful and charming and normal.

“Oh.”

“That’s all you can think of to say?”

“Yeah.” Junior stared at the canvas floor of the boxing ring and felt himself get a little bit lightheaded. His mind raced with possibilities for things that he should have said, things that he should have done. In theory, Junior knew that he should have gone back to his things and grabbed his phone.

He should have called Roman and tried to resolve this issue and get some reassurance to say that James was wrong, but at the same time, Junior just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Roman was probably asleep, Roman would probably laugh at him, Roman would probably make some sort of wildly inappropriate joke for the moment…

Junior became acutely aware of the beating of his heart against his chest, to the point where all that he could hear was his own heartbeat, getting faster, and faster, and  _ faster… _

"Junior?"

James' voice broke him out of the haze that his mind had worked up and violently dragged Junior back to reality. He was still standing in the middle of a boxing ring with a training pad leaned against his leg. Junior swallowed and picked up the pad again- he needed to just play things off like he was alright instead of panicking about whatever it was that he was going to have to deal with from Roman in the very near future.

"Jim, I-"

James stepped forward and put a still-gloved hand on Junior's shoulder. The hand move up to cup Junior's cheek- it was the only shape that anyone could make in those gloves other than a fist, and James pulled Junior's eyes onto him. "Do you want to go home?"

"I think I just need to go lay down." Junior answered. He tried to look away from James, but James didn't let him budge.

James’ eyes pierced into Junior in ways that Junior hadn’t quite prepared for. “Do you want to go home?” He asked again, this time sounding a bit more insistent than before. Junior couldn’t tell whether or not James was trying to get him to admit that something was wrong, or whether James was looking for him to say something else.

It was getting late, and Junior figured that in theory he probably should have thought about going home instead of staying here. His bed would be a better place for him to rest and process what was going on than a bench.

He swallowed and let his eyes drift just before he decided that it was probably a good idea to give James an answer. That way James would stop looking at him like had five heads, that way James would let him go. That way he could maybe even get some rest.

"Yeah." Junior finally whispered. "Home sounds nice."

James stepped away from Junior and put some space back between them as was more comfortable. He looked around the gym and sighed heavily. Junior watched James' expression and realized that there was a strong chance that James was taking inventory on everything that needed be done around the gym before they left, or whenever they first got in for the day.

"Okay." James finally said, carefully tugging up the corner of the velcro that was holding his gloves on. "Put the pad away, I'll put these away, and then we can go home, alright?"

"Yeah." Junior managed to say. "Sounds good."

James stepped away and began to do his part in the small amount of cleanup that the two of them needed to go through, and left Junior standing there in the middle of the boxing room, all alone and with his heart beating so hard against his chest that there was no way that he was going to be able to get out of this on his own.

He shook his head and tried not to let his breath catch in his throat as he picked up the heavy training pad. Junior just went through everything that he possibly could have that would tip him off to what needed to be done.

He just needed to get the bag into the supply closet and that would be it. That was all that he had to do.

Junior reached the door to the supply closet and had to hesitate for a second when he realized what had gone on the last time that he'd been in there. Last time, he'd been in there with Roman, and things had been so awkward that he thought that Roman had been about to cry.

He swallowed.

This wasn't good.

No.

This was  _ very  _ bad. This was the first sign that things may have been collapsing all around him and if he didn't do something to deal with it, he didn't know whether there'd be any getting past the issue at hand.

It was actually just that bad.

There was the business on the line, and probably quite a bit more, not that Junior wanted to have to focus on the ‘more’ attached to it. The business being at risk was more than enough to be worried about to begin with.

He blinked and opened the door to the supply closet before walking in and making a beeline for the back where he dropped the training pad in a place where nobody would risk falling on it. He was already out the door before he knew that it had even hit the ground.

Junior couldn't handle being in there right now.

James was over by the door, checking his phone and waiting for Junior. For just a second, Junior watched the way that James' eyes flicked up to him. He sighed heavily and joined James by the door, and then the two of them left the gym together.

James locked the door, and Junior went to the car first. Normally he would drive, but at the moment he wasn't so sure that he was going to be able to pull that off. He wasn't feeling the best, and he didn't like going out driving when he was already feeling distracted.

Finally, James joined Junior and the two of them were driving across the city so that they could get back to their apartment. Junior did his best not to pay too much attention to the fact that he could  _ feel _ his phone as it rested in his pocket.

If he wanted to, he could have called Roman then and hoped that Roman picked up.

But he didn't want to. Not when he knew that Roman was probably sleeping at the moment. He didn't want to be the reason that Roman didn't get any sleep, especially when he was fairly certain that Roman was going to be wrapped up in work all the next day.

"Talk to me." James said, quietly. "I can hear you thinking."

"Did you mean it?" Junior asked, picking his head up so that he could lock his eyes with James' as best as he could while James drove. "What you said about Roman."

"I have only told you what I noticed." James said, quietly. "...Are you going to be okay?"

"I dunno." Junior answered.

"Well, If you're going to have a crisis about this..." James sighed as he pulled into the parking lot for their building. "How about we at least get you inside so that you're not having a crisis out here?"

Junior nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. He didn't stop to get anything out of the car and instead just made a beeline for the building. James was going to need to take his time getting up there in all likelihood, but Junior didn't mind that so much.

A part of him told him that it would probably be for the better if he made a point to give his phone to James that night instead of just letting it torture him all night.

Junior was the first one into the apartment. It wasn't anything against James, he just honestly needed some space between the two of them until he would be able to sort out what was going on in his head.

The first thing that he did once he was through the door and had his shoes off was set his phone down on the dining room table on top of a stack of mail so that he wouldn't be tempted by it all night.

He made a beeline for the fridge- despite the fact that it was early in the morning, Junior did figure that it was probably in his best interests to get something into his stomach before bed. He was pretty sure that the last time that he'd eaten had to have been at lunch, and mixed with physical activity, it left him nearly starving.

His eyes traveled over the contents of the fridge and he was about to reach out for the carton of orange juice when he heard the sound of the door close behind him. Junior would have sworn, but he decided against it before he turned around to see that James had seated himself in one of the dining room chairs that was nearest to the door and was carefully sliding a shoe off of his right foot.

"Want something to eat?" Junior asked as he caught James' eyes for just a second. "Because I can make something real quick if that's what you'd-"

"Just my pills and a sandwich would be good." James answered, shortly. Junior nodded and turned back to the fridge. He pulled out the carton of orange juice for himself, and followed it with a package of discounted sandwich rolls that James had picked up sometime earlier that week.

He set them down on the counter beside him before grabbing a package of sliced deli meat and set to making two sandwiches.

It was too quiet. Junior could still feel his heart beating in his chest, and there was a weird weight that he couldn't quite make out as being something important or worrying that was weighing down on his chest.

Maybe he was having a heart attack.

Maybe he should...

_ No _ .

That, of all things, was a  _ very  _ stupid train of thought for him to follow. Yes, his father had passed away as a result of a heart attack, but he also knew that there wasn't much of a family history towards them.

His father had just been getting old, he didn't have anything to worry about, no he was going to be-

"Junior?"

James' hand appeared on his shoulder. "Junior, talk to me, what's-"

"I think I'm dying James."

"Junior, talk to me." James stepped in front of Junior. "I can make the damn sandwich, just talk to me."

"I don't know what's going on Jim, I'm just..." Junior struggled to breathe and stepped away from James until his back was against the counters. He slid down to the floor and put his head between his hands as he tried to discern what was going on.

All that he knew was that everything was wrong.

James swore, and Junior could hear the sound of him rushing off to some other part of the apartment as quickly as he possibly could- probably to get something.

Junior didn't know how long he sat there on the floor, since the only thing that he became able to measure time by was the way that he was breathing, and the feeling of his own heartbeat. His eyes stayed glued to the floor in front of him, and his gaze traced over the patterns in the floor.

James' arms slid around Junior, and Junior became distantly aware of the fact that James was wrapping a blanket around him. He closed his eyes and took in a long shaking breath. It was the feeling of James' arm wrapping around Junior's chest that made Junior finally move to do something and stand up.

He put a little bit of weight on James. He didn't hear James protest or grunt in pain, and that was some small relief. Slowly, the two of them walked back to Junior's room so that Junior could be put down to rest, even if it was only for a little while.

James somehow managed to open the door despite everything and then they were stepping inside.

Junior dropped down onto his bed without any real hesitation. His fingers found the edges of the blanket, and he went ahead and pulled it tighter around him. James settled at his side, and Junior let his eyes slip shut at the feeling of James' hand- the warm, real one, carding over his hair.

"Jim?"

"Rest." James said, quietly. "Just stay here, and I'll get food, okay?"

Junior nodded. He felt the mattress shift, and then James left him with the door open.

Junior squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to focus on how he felt like the entire world was crashing down around him all at once.


	25. Telephone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finds out things are off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, I'm not very happy with this chapter but it's transitional and I"m confident that the chapter that'll be coming next week will have a worthwhile payoff. So this one's on the short side, and I'm sorry about that. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it anyways.

The office was entirely too quiet that morning. The awkwardness of it all was absolutely crushing, and Roman didn’t know what he could actually do to deal with it. 

Mostly, he was just annoyed and somewhat frustrated by everything that had been going on.

Roman swivelled in his chair and locked his eyes onto Summer, who was wrapped up in her own work as she always tended to be. She was probably somewhat oblivious to the fact that things hadn’t been going well for Roman that morning, but he had sort of expected that. Summer had her own work to do and her own life to live.

She wasn’t going to go worrying about him at every corner.

When he'd come into the office he'd had a list of things that he wanted to do- namely, make sure that he could place the order for Xiong's that he'd been working on the last time he'd been in. James’ help had given him some direction to take, but he still had things to finalize.    
  
But when he’d tried to get things going, that hadn't been possible. He'd called the gym and nobody had been in, and it had him worried. It was the kind of worry that left his stomach twisted up and him unable to think about anything other than the list of things that could have been wrong.    
  
The last time that the gym had been closed without any warning, it had been because James had gotten hurt. 

Based on what Roman did know about James and Junior, they were only going to close up the gym if something was seriously wrong instead of leaving it open.    
  
This time, he couldn't get any answer as to what had gone wrong. Nobody was there to pick up the phone, and calling Junior hadn't panned out.    
  
"Hey, Summer?" Roman asked as he swiveled in his seat again and leaned back in his seat. His eyes flickered over to Summer, who was shifting some paperwork about on her desk in search of something. "What are we doing here?" 

"Well, we're  _ supposed _ to be working." Summer answered with a quiet laugh. She set down her work,  turned in her seat to face Roman and shot him the strongest smile that she had. Roman locked his eyes with hers and watched the way that she tossed her hair back out of her face. "Not that you'd know what  _ that's _ like."    
  
"I do my job." Roman retorted before sighing. "And I'm trying to do my job, just... you know."    
  
"Pumpkin, If they aren't picking up, it's not the end of the world." Summer said. "Are you just bummed out because the big handsome boxer won't talk to you?" She was definitely teasing him a little bit, but Roman knew better than to read into it as being maliciously. This was just her way of getting through to him.

Roman sighed, knowing that there wasn't actually any "good" answer to Summer's question. he was a mess, and that was all that there really was to the matter. But being cut off like this was... odd. It was strictly abnormal, even. 

If he’d had even the slightest idea as to what he’d done wrong that would have been one thing, but he was clueless. All of his last interactions with James and Junior had been fine, at least from Roman’s point of view.   
  
"I don't know, Summer." Roman finally admitted, leaning back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other in the process. "I just..." He frowned and let his eyes stray over to his computer monitor, which was proudly displaying his schedule. "I'd just gotten them their posters, and I wanted to check in on some other stuff I was doing for them."  
  
"Then nothing?" Summer frowned.   
  
"Yeah." Roman confirmed. "It's just weird."  
  
Summer hummed and stood up before crossing the room to join Roman where he was sitting. He almost jolted back from her, but instead found her wrapping her arms around him. "It's going to be okay, Pumpkin."  
  
"You sure about that?" Roman asked, tilting his head slightly so that he could at least attempt to make eye contact between the two of them. "It doesn't feel like it will be."  
  
"It will be, promise." Summer said. She reached out for the desk, and Roman watched as she dragged the phone a little bit closer to Roman. "Call them again."  
  
"That's all the advice you have to offer?" Roman deadpanned, narrowing his eyes in some annoyance. "Because if that's it, then-"  
  
“Pumpkin,” Summer gently began to rub circles into Roman’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down and get him to relax. "How many times have you called them today?"  
  
"I dunno, three?" Roman said with a shrug before letting his eyes slip shut and deciding to just enjoy Summer’s miniature massage. "Those guys never let the phone ring that long, it's weird for them to be like this."   
  
"Call them again." Summer said, her voice flat and sounding like she was almost irritated with him. She didn’t let up on her ministrations. "It's possible that they got in late."   
  
She paused and pursed her lips, like she was trying to figure out whether or not her next question would be appropriate to ask or not. A certain feeling of dread began to overtake Roman, and he found himself reaching for the phone, if only so that he could pick up the wireless receiver.  
  
"Roman," Summer asked, her voice gravely serious. "Have you..." She paused, trying to figure out whether or not she was going to end up offending someone if she asked the question.  
  
Summer shook her head, stood up tall, and stilled her hands where they rested on Roman's shoulders. She gave him a gentle squeeze to drag his attention onto her and nothing else. "Have you gotten his number?"  
  
Roman felt himself go red. "I..." He shook his head. "I have it, but-" He shook his head again. He hadn't tried calling Junior's personal phone that morning- partially because there was a big part of him that said calling that number while he was at work would be inappropriate.   
  
"So call him?" Summer said, cocking her head. "I won't tell if you won't."   
  
Roman nodded, and began to dial Junior's personal number. He held the phone to his ear, and listened for a sign that said that Junior had picked up.   
  
No answer.   
  
That sparked some worry in his chest, and he put the phone down before looking up at Summer. "Nothing."   
  
Summer frowned and her brow furrowed like she was trying to think of any sort of solution that could help them.  
  
Roman didn't say anything to her- partially because he didn't know what he could actually go ahead and say to Summer that would help to actually fix things. He set the phone back down on the desk next to him before standing up, putting his hands behind his head in surrender, and walking so that he could look out the window, as though he thought there would be solutions out there.   
  
Summer didn't move from her spot. Roman could feel her eyes on his back, and there was even a small part of him that desperately wanted for him to turn around and snap at her for staring at him like that. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He leaned forward against the glass of the window and let his eyes slip shut.   
  
A hand on his shoulder. "Pumpkin, I might have an idea." Summer said, her voice quiet. "I'm going to call someone."   
  
"What?" Roman looked over at her like she had two heads. What could she possibly have to offer that would actually serve to help him in this situation.   
  
"Just trust me." Summer said. "You look into ordering lunch while I make a phone call, okay? I'll buy."   
  
Realizing that he didn't have many options, Roman nodded and went back to his desk. He clicked past all of the windows that reminded him of the amount of work that he had to do that day until he was in an empty window in his web browser.   
  
He went to his bookmarks and found the folder that was listed quite simply as "lunch" and picked a particularly good sounding option off of a list that he'd built up over the course of years working there. He did his best to focus on his work, but every few seconds Roman would just stop to listen in on Summer's conversation. 

Roman didn’t have even the slightest idea as to who she was going to call, and why. But clearly, she felt confident about whatever it was that she was going to be doing. Roman figured that in the end, he didn’t have many options other than to just trust her.    
  
She'd seated herself back at her desk, and was even leaned back slightly, with one leg folded neatly over the other as she dialed a phone number. He didn't look over to see what her expressions looked like, just listened.    
  
"Taiyang!" He heard her exclaim into the phone. Roman didn't have to think about why she would have had Taiyang's number, now that he considered things. The two of them seemed to have hit it off pretty well when they'd all gone to the bar not that long ago. Thinking that phone numbers had been exchanged wasn’t at all out of the question.   
  
"-Yeah, I need a favor." Summer said into the phone. Roman could practically  _ hear _ her smile. "No, it's nothing too big. I just need someone to get ahold of your big friend for me and Roman. The one with the gym."    
  
Oh.    
  
So  _ that's _ what she was trying to do.    
  
"-Yeah, you can call me back." A slight giggle. "Saturday sounds wonderful. Call me back."    
  
Summer hanged up the phone, and swiveled around in her seat almost violently. "Taiyang's going to call them and see if they'll answer for him, okay?"    
  
Roman nodded. If there was anything that could have more perfectly solidified his fears that he was being avoided, he figured it was just that, but at the same time, Roman couldn't bring himself to be dragged down by the thought so easily. It was possible that Junior's phone was dead, or that it had been forgotten, or nobody was in at the office- or maybe it was one of those days where Junior was the only one at the gym so nobody was in the back to man the phone.    
  
There were a lot of possibilities- hundreds of them. And not all of them focused exclusively on whether or not Junior was avoiding him.    
  
Roman just hoped that it wasn't actually the case.    
  
They must have sat there for six or seven minutes. Roman was in the middle of scratching down a food order when he heard Summer's ringtone go off- a silly song that he didn't recognize.   
  
Summer picked up the phone almost immediately, and she actually got up and walked out of the office so that she could take the call with Taiyang just outside the door.   
  
There was a small part of Roman that was beyond just glad for the fact that he'd been left alone. It meant that he had a chance to breathe, and it meant that he was going to be able to actually get his things together.   
  
Roman frowned and leaned back in his seat. He looked up at the corkboard behind where he would usually put his laptop and just saw the list of things that he had to do there. Somehow, it all had to take a backseat despite the fact that these were all projects that weren't doomed to fail.   
  
That couldn't necessarily be said for Xiong's. And that was probably what was making Roman worry so strongly.    
  
He couldn't just pretend that everything would be okay at Xiong's. If it wasn't for the fact that he was putting a lot of funds into making sure that they could stay afloat, then maybe things would make a little bit more sense to him.    
  
No luck, though. He couldn't fix anything if he couldn't even get into contact with Junior to try and get things fixed and better in the near future.    
  
Roman didn't know exactly how long he must have waited for Summer to come back in. When the door finally dinged to signal her entrance, she sounded almost enthusiastic.    
  
"Apparently," Summer began her explanation. "The gym is closed today- Taiyang wouldn't say why, but I get the feeling he probably just doesn't know."    
  
"And Junior?"    
  
"Home sick, according to Taiyang." Summer shrugged and seated herself behind her desk. "Apparently he wasn't up for talking much. Taiyang said that he only knows what's going on because he managed to talk to James."    
  
That was weird, was Roman's first thought.   
  
"Oh." Roman said, closing some of the Xiong's related windows that were on his desktop. "That makes sense."    
  
Summer nodded and locked her eyes with Roman's. "Have you figured lunch out yet for us?"    
  
"Yeah." Roman chuckled. "I think I have. You want to call it in, or should I?"   
  
Summer hummed quietly. "I think you should call it in, Pumpkin. I have some things to do and I'd rather not have too many distractions."    
  
"Of course."    
  
Roman turned, called in his order, and did his very best to focus on his work and nothing else. In the back of his mind, he wondered if it would be possible for him to swing by James and Junior's house and see whether or not things were okay.    
  
Part of him expected that James would probably turn him away at the door if Junior really was sick, but at the same time, he and James were getting to be on better terms so there was the slight possibility that he might actually be let in if he brought work as a topic and a reason for being there.    
  
In the end, most of the work day for Roman ended up as a blur. He made posters and talked to clients on the phone, and when it was finally time for him to leave, he made a beeline for Sheila and began the drive across town to the streets where he knew James and Junior's apartment was.    
  
He didn't know what he expected. All that he knew was that he needed to get there, and he needed to be able to talk to Junior before he somehow went mad with worry over the whole thing.    
  
He couldn't be pushed out, and if that was what Junior was trying to do, then Roman sure as hell wasn't going to be standing for it.    
  
No.   
  
Not a chance.


	26. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys talk a bit, and something else.

Junior was curled up as comfortably as he could be on the couch next to James, with his head pillowed on an armrest and his eyes focused on the television screen that was standing on the other side of the room and playing a documentary with the volume turned down.

Even a day after James’ revelations, he was feeling a  little more than overwhelmed. There was a pretty large part of him that honestly felt bad about having chosen to stay home for the day, especially since James had elected to stay home with him instead of going to run the gym himself. They needed the business, but he couldn’t do it and James was worried.

In the end, it ended up being a pretty nice day off. He’d been able to relax, rest, and even just put his head together as he tried to focus on what was going on in his life. The ringing of his phone in the kitchen hadn’t been welcome, but it had been a constant.

It turned out that people were trying to get ahold of him. He wouldn’t have found this out if it wasn’t for the fact that Taiyang had called James after Junior had failed to pick up. And even then, James hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with answers about what was going on with Junior.

Junior was more than a little thankful for that.

Now, his phone was turned off in the kitchen.

He didn't want to have to move to get to it or even think about answering the damn thing. No, today  Junior just wanted to do what he could to rest and recollect himself.

Surprisingly, their doorbell rang. Junior picked his head up, not sure at all about what was going on. Normally they didn't have any company, why would somebody-

James sighed and stood up. Junior watched him stretch slightly before he moved to cross the apartment and find out who it was that wanted to see them. Junior knew perfectly well what was going to happen.

James was going to go down to the ground floor door, and he would politely ask whoever was there to visit to leave. If it was someone just trying to get into the building, then James knew better than to let them in.

Junior heard the sound of the door swinging shut and he took the opportunity to stretch out slightly on the couch now that James had moved. He shifted his position and stared up at the ceiling above him and tried not to think about what was happening.

Whoever it was, they were probably being turned away.

He let his eyes slip shut and listened to the sound of the television.

It was weird, though. James was taking a much longer time to get back up to the apartment, and for a moment, Junior worried that maybe James had hurt himself on the way back up, or that maybe something was terribly terribly wrong and Junior should come to his rescue-

His heart began to pound, and Junior was just about to get up when he heard the sound of the door opening, followed by two voices.

"He's on the couch, I think you two should-"

"I intend to." The second voice chimed in.

_Shit._

_Roman?_

Junior sat up slightly on the couch and rubbed at the side of his head, which ended up mussing his hair somewhat as he did so.

He blinked wearily and saw that Roman was there, looking a little more tired and worn out than usual, but also looking like he'd just gotten out of work. James looked like he was beyond calm, on the other hand.

As Roman approached, Junior pushed himself up to his feet, ready to make his escape, when he heard Roman's voice.

"Junior!" Roman called. "I needed to talk to you about some work stuff, and I couldn't get ahold of you..."

Shit.

Junior squeezed his eyes shut and looked back at Roman over his shoulder to force a smile in Roman's direction.

"Oh, Roman." Junior said. "I'm sorry, I haven't been feeling so well..."

"I can understand that but..." Roman paused, his eyes narrowing slightly before looking down the hallway towards where Junior's bedroom was waiting, door ajar. "Is something..."

"No." Junior cut Roman off before he could finish. "Nothing's wrong, Roman. Don't worry about it."

A quick look at Roman's face put a terrible feeling through Junior's entire body. The poor guy looked terribly disappointed, like he'd maybe even figured out that Junior had spent the entire day avoiding him.

"Do... do you want me to just talk to James about this?" Roman asked, quietly. "Because I'd like to have you involved but-"

"Yeah, that would be good." Junior said with a quiet sigh. "Could you?"

Roman nodded slowly.

Junior took that as the chance to slip off to his bedroom, where he closed the door behind him as he stepped inside.

He slumped back against the door and tilted his head back so that he could stare at the ceiling and just wonder why James would have let Roman in- the two of them didn't even get along half the time, so why would he-

His mind went back to the conversation that he'd had with James the night before. He felt all of the blood run out of his face and ended up putting his face in his hands as he tried to figure this out. It was entirely possible that James had told Roman about the night before, and it was entirely too concerning. Junior sucked in a heavy breath, closed his eyes, and just tried to listen in on what was going on just on the other side of the door.

"-I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. I did mean it, I have things I wanted to talk to you about for work anyways." Roman replied to James, albeit quietly. Junior could hear the sound of the two of them setting up in the living room. He considered getting up and going to bed, but at the same time, Junior couldn't bring himself to do it.

So instead of getting up and trying to stop them or get Roman out of the house, Junior just sat there with his head resting against the door.

He didn't know how long he must have sat there. He could hear the sounds of the two of them working quietly. Roman would make a suggestion, then James would follow up on it with some sort of correction, usually, and then they'd move on to the next topic. Junior didn't really know what he was listening for, or whether he was even listening for _anything_.

Junior doubted that James would go ahead and say something that would be incriminating. And he was glad, because the entire time that he sat there listening in on James and Roman, nothing weird was ever said.

The only time he was even brought up was when the two of them brought up the fact that they should probably go ahead and make sure that Junior could join them for food. Junior was touched by the discussion, but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to join them for a meal- he didn't even know whether he was hungry or not.

He swallowed and let his eyes slip shut for a second.

There was the sound of someone knocking at the door.

Shit.

Junior spoke up, but he kept his voice as controlled as possible. "What is it?"

"Hey, Junior." It was Roman. "We wanted to do dinner and we figured we should invite you?"

Shit, that was just them trying to be nice, Junior realized quickly. He didn't feel right about saying no, and as much as his nerves were messing with him, he did figure that it was probably best for him to get up and go and eat with the other two but at the same time-

"Roman?" Junior asked through the door, steeling himself the entire while. "Can I talk to you?"

"You're talking to me now, aren't you?"

"I mean..." Junior hesitated. He guessed that he probably should have expected some sort of retort like that from Roman, he'd just hoped that he wouldn't have to worry about one. "I am but I mean... Alone?"

There was the quiet on the other side of the door that left Junior wondering whether or not he had severely fucked up already, but it was soon followed by Roman's voice.

"Can I come in?"

Shit, this was it.

Junior stepped away from the door and raised his hands up to his hair for just a second to make sure that he didn't look like a complete mess when Roman came in, and then he pulled open the door.

As expected, Roman was standing on the other side, though he wasn't looking nearly as confident as he normally did. Junior wasn't sure that was something that he really wanted to have to go ahead and read into, though.

Roman could have his moments of weakness just like anyone else. There wasn't anything that excluded him from being allowed them. Junior had a feeling that he needed to be better about reminding that- Roman wasn’t somehow invincible.

Junior stepped out of the frame of the door, and then Roman stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

The memories of the last time that the two of them were in here alone came to mind, and Junior couldn't help but to feel a little bit more than just nervous and even a little bit sick. This wasn't Roman's fault. None of this was Roman's fault, he told himself.

It was too quiet. Junior knew that he probably should have been the one to talk first, to say something- anything to make the situation a little bit better and just slightly more comfortable for the two of them.

Nothing came to mind.

"So." Roman said, keeping his voice even and shoving his hands down into his pockets in what Junior immediately flagged as a sign of discomfort. "Is something wrong?"

"I.." Junior started. Stopped. He couldn't think of anything that he should have said to Roman, despite how hard he tried. There was just nothing that could actually express how he'd been feeling over the course of the last day or so. "I don't know." He finally managed.

Not great, but it was at least _honest_. And right now, Junior had the feeling that honest was probably the best that he could hope for.

"Do... you want to talk about it?" Roman asked. His green eyes flicked over  to the bed and Junior mentally hit himself for not inviting him to sit down, or making the guest comfortable or-

"Do you want to sit down?" Junior asked, not answering Roman's question. "I know it's not great but-

Roman's eyes narrowed in some sort of confusion, but Roman did nod, and he began his way over to Junior's bed, where he seated himself on the side that was closer to the door. "Junior."

"Yeah." Junior said as he stepped up so that he could sit down next to Roman. "I know."

"Look, if it's about work, we don't have to talk about it." Roman said, leaning in. "Everyone's allowed a day off once in awhile, you know that right?"

"It's..." Junior sighed heavily. "It's not about work. That's the thing. It's about-" Junior hesitated again, not knowing whether or not there was a way to tell the truth that wouldn't leave him coming off as a colossal asshole. Or wouldn't leave him making poor Roman feel bad about himself.

Roman, though. He seemed to pick up on things. Out of the corner of his eye, Junior was able to make out the sight of Roman clutching his hands together nervously and even shifting his leg like he was afraid that some sort of visible sign of anxiety or nervousness would come out.

"It's me, isn't it?" Roman sounded hurt.

"Yeah." Junior managed to get out. "It is." Pause. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." Roman started, though his voice sounded much more strained than it should have been.

Nervous wasn't a good sound on Roman. Junior had a feeling that it was something that he personally would never be able to get used to hearing from the other man, as a matter of fact.

"You're... are you mad?"

"I don't know." Roman answered, making a point not to make any sort of eye contact between the two of them. "Should I be mad?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Junior stood up so that he faced Roman directly instead of sitting next to him. He needed to know that he had Roman's full attention for this, but Junior wasn't exactly sure why that was. He just knew that he needed it. "Look it's just..." He swallowed. "Do you like me?"

"What?" Roman furrowed his brow and looked genuinely confused by the question. "Of course, why wouldn't I? You're nice."

"That's not-"

Realization dawned on Roman's face. HIs emerald eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open a little bit as he finally figured out what it was that Junior was actually talking about. Roman swallowed and forced a smile. "Junior?"

"Do you like me?"

"You're asking me this in the middle school 'do I have a crush on you’ sense?'" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow just to make sure that the two of them were on the same page. Junior was glad for it- the last thing that the two of them needed to do here was go ahead and miscommunicate.

"Yes." Junior said before swallowing his nerves visibly. "I am."

"Oh." Roman hesitated. "Yes." Roman finally said, after a very long pause. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Oh."

It was quiet. Junior was quiet. There were a lot of things that he wanted to go ahead and say, but he couldn't think of anything that would work out well for him. If it was possible to just let Roman lead, he would have. And he hoped that Roman would be willing to do that, even if he never specifically prompted for him to lead.

Almost like he'd been able to read Junior's mind, Roman spoke up.

"Junior... is that going to be a problem?" Roman asked. "Because if you want, I can step away from you guys and maybe transfer you to Summer-"

"What?" Junior asked, feeling himself flush slightly. "No. Of course not."

"Are you sure?" Roman stood up now, stepping in close to Junior. Junior was about to back up, but he stopped himself. It wasn't what he really wanted to do. He swallowed, steeled himself, and slipped his hands down into his pockets before shrugging and letting his head hang.

"Yeah." Junior managed. "I'm sure."

"Okay." Roman said, stepping into Junior's line of sight- which required for the two of them to be quite close together. "Is there anything I can do to... make it better?"

"I don't know."

"Is there anything that you want to do?"

Junior swallowed. "Yes."

"So-"

Junior locked his eyes with Roman's and his eyes flicked down to Roman's lips for just a second before flicking back up to his eyes. "I-"

Roman, surprisingly, smiled. He reached up, and cupped the side of Junior's cheek. "So."

Junior went rigid, suddenly unsure of what he was supposed to do. He closed his eyes for a second and pressed his cheek gently into Roman's hand before leaning forward. "Can I-"

"Please." Roman said with a smile. "Please."

"Okay."

Junior leaned in towards Roman, slowly. One of his hands made his way out of his pocket before he reached out to cup the side of Roman's cheek. Gently, he tilted Roman's head up by the jaw, and pressed his lips to Roman's in a chaste kiss.

Everything seemed to lose meaning. They may have lingered there for a moment. Roman's hand slid down to Junior's shoulder and pulled him close, Junior found himself reaching out with his free hand so that he could pull Roman just a little bit closer.

The world boiled down to three things and three things alone. His hand on Roman's hip, Roman's lips against his, and Roman's touch on his shoulder.

All wonderful. All sweet.

All temporary.

Junior pulled away from the kiss and his and Roman's eyes locked. He wanted to say something, or to lean in again for another kiss, or to try and think of anything that could make things make sense. The nerves that had gripped him so tightly over the course of the last night felt like they were beginning to slide away.

Roman stepped away from him and looked away. "Um." He sounded a little bit like he was lost. "So... Dinner?"

"We'll talk about this later, right?"

"Of course." Roman smiled at Junior brightly. "After dinner."

"Okay."

The two of them separated for good. Junior took a moment to just try and make himself look presentable, and then he and Roman both left his bedroom so that they could meet James and figure out what their dinner was going to be looking like.

They ended up doing what they'd done the last time that the three of them had been in the apartment together. They ended up eating in the living room together, and James and Roman took the opportunity to explain what the two of them had been talking about while Junior spent his time hiding away in his bedroom.

In the end, all that Junior really had to do was give his stamp of approval, and that was it. Roman put in the gear orders to be made on a fast basis, and for a moment, Junior was almost certain that he and James could relax.

It was technically one less expense out of pocket.

Junior looked up from his slice of pizza and locked eyes with James. "How much did that cut down on our monthly-"

"About a hundred and twenty five." James answered before Junior could even finish. "I'm guessing you want to put that towards the extra-"

"Yeah."

Roman looked between James and Junior with a confused look on his face, and for the first time it dawned on Junior that it was entirely possible that nobody had ever taken the time to explain what was going on with their rent situation to him. Junior set his pizza down on the lid of the box that was sitting on the coffee table in front of him before wiping his fingers off on a paper towel.

"How far off does that put us?"

"How far off from what?" Roman asked, his green eyes narrowing slightly. He was seated next to Junior, and for just a moment, Junior became incredibly aware of the fact that Roman was brushing against his thigh as he shifted in his seat. "You two are being cryptic and since my job is to help keep your business afloat, I think I'd like to know what's going on."

James and Junior exchanged a look, just one long enough that they'd be able to decide who should take the lead on this matter. James nodded and looked at Roman.

"We received a message from our landlord recently." James started. "He's offering us a lowered monthly payment if we can come up with an extra four hundred dollars on a payment."

Roman blinked and looked between the two of them. It seemed like he had  realized that for a business like theirs, four hundred dollars could make or break them from month to month.

"How... far off are the two of you?" Roman asked, mentally going over what his monthly budget and trying to figure out how he was doing on his own bills. "Because I might be able to help."

"Do you mean it?" Junior asked, feeling more than just a bit excited by the prospect of them getting some help. "Because if you can-"

Roman blinked, and he had a look that one could easily describe as being that of a deer in the headlights. He seemed like he was just doing his best to sort out whether or not he had an answer.

Junior realized quickly that he'd probably gone just a little too far and had ended up putting the ginger on the spot with a question that could only be described as uncomfortable. Money was always an uncomfortable topic, regardless of who you were or what the circumstances were. And Junior even knew that.

"I might be able to." Roman finally said with a small shrug. "I think it's just a matter of getting into a bank sometime to see how I'm doing on my own payments, you know?"

"Yeah." Junior said, relaxing back slightly. "I get that."

He smiled at Roman from across the table. At his side, he could feel James shifting slightly like he was about to get up. He wondered whether or not he was straying along lines that James didn't like to have to consider or be near regardless of situation.

If they were making James uncomfortable, then Junior would stop. He knew that Roman had a tendency to flirt. But that didn't matter.

Instead of saying anything to either of them, James just went to the kitchen, and Junior could hear the sound of things being moved around while James got himself a glass of water.

Junior peered across the table and gave Roman a smile- not the sort of flashy smile that some people liked to wear, but rather a genuine one that said quite plainly "I'm glad to have you here."

Roman smiled back.

Junior felt his chest clench.


	27. Blush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are dorks. There's stuff to talk about. How does dating work?

Roman stormed into the gym with a gym bag in tow, a bright smile, and a need to get things  _ done _ . His bag was slung over his shoulder, mostly so that he didn't have to worry about carrying it at all, and in one hand, he held a folder that contained something that would change their day.

Whether it would change for better or for worse was up for debate. Mostly, Roman was looking forward to getting to see Junior for a little bit.

"Junior!" Roman called into the mostly empty gym upon his arrival, sounding nothing like the usually insecure version of himself that tended to show up when he came here.

It had been a strange morning. Roman had spent the night unable to sleep as his head buzzed with the thoughts about what had happened in Junior's bedroom. There was a new nervous sort of excitement that had a strong grip on him.

He suspected that the fact that he really shouldn't have been pursuing anything with Junior was a major reason for that. It was a client/worker relationship, and bad things could happen because of that.

Everything that he did with Junior would have to be kept quiet, at least to some degree.

That was, assuming that Junior was actually even interested in him and hadn’t just been feeling overwhelmed the night before as Roman had begun to suspect over the course of the night.

Anyone probably would have been a little bit overwhelmed- Roman knew that pretty well, but at the same time, he really wanted to think that everything that had happened between the two of them was very, very real as well as very, very tangible. 

There was a certain excitement to it- breaking the rules like this.

Hell, he wasn't really even  _ supposed  _ to have been at Xiong's that day, but since he hadn't been able to come in to see them "officially" or speak to them in the "official" manner while he'd been at work the day before, it was an excuse to show up and see Junior- if only for a little while. He had actual work to do there, and that alone was enough to make his presence at Xiong’s justifiable.

However, Roman was not at all prepared for what he saw when he finally stepped into the main part of the room. Up in the boxing ring, there was a shirtless Taiyang, who was going at Junior, who was wearing a shirt that was probably just a little too tight.

Junior didn't even look over at him, as he was entirely too focused on the practice match that he and Taiyang had to pay any attention to anything that was going on outside the ring.

At the back of the building, Roman saw the door to the office open and James stepped out. James shot him a look that couldn't be described as unhappy, but instead just fell closer to being confused than anything else.

There was at least some small part of Roman that just wasn't surprised back that.

Roman didn't do anything though. He didn't want to go to the back and join James and find out whatever was going on with him. Instead, he just wanted to sit down, and watch the two men fight.

Not that it wasn't slightly awkward or anything- Roman was very well aware of the technical implications of his desire to just there and watch.

His mind flashed back to the kiss in Junior's bedroom and Roman had to stop himself from letting himself get too deeply involved in those thoughts, if only for fear of what would happen if he did end up too heavily engrossed in them.

Someday, he was going to get Junior alone again.

He just hoped that next time he could actually get them a little bit further along than just the chaste sort of kiss that they'd shared.

Roman walked through the building and seated himself on one of the benches in the gym. He set the bag that he'd brought with him down next to him, and then set the folder that he'd brought with him on top of that.

He leaned back slightly, and just watched.

There was a part of him that felt guilty for it. Not because of Junior, or because he was actively engaging in just watching these two, but rather it was because he had come to effectively slack off on his job to instead see things like this.

Roman watched as Taiyang delivered a punch to Junior’s side, and then when the two of them broke apart, he even saw Junior rub at his side for a moment before directing his gaze down onto Roman.

“Hey!”

Roman's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the realization that Junior actually seemed to be happy to see him there. If it was a situation where Junior had been expecting him to come in that day, then that would have been one thing, but because it was unannounced, it felt like it was something different.

Maybe Junior had actually gotten a bit more out of the night before than Roman had initially expected. It almost was enough to make him feel bad about the fact that he'd had to leave before the night had been out.

"Hey." Roman said. He reached back and breached himself against the wooden bench with his hands and leaned back slightly so he could make eye contact with Junior, who was now hanging over the ropes at the side of the ring to look at him. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Nah, just training blondie." Junior answered with a handwave. "Taiyang needs a break anyways."

"I'm glad." Roman said, smiling up at Junior before realizing that he should probably at least explain that he'd come in for a reason other than to ogle and see Junior. "I have something I wanted to talk to you about?"

There was a certain sort of silence that hung between the two of them for a moment as Junior tried to figure out exactly what it could be that Roman was talking about. "Care to explain?"

"Yeah," Roman said, turning to pick up the manila folder that was resting on top of his gym bag. He opened it up and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "I was working on mocking up some ads for the newspaper. I thought that maybe I could get you guys featured in the sports section- Lisa has friends in high places and with the tournament coming up-" Roman shrugged. "It just seemed to make sense."

"Do you mind if I look later?"

"Do you mind if I hang around?" Roman retorted, smiling and raising one eyebrow playfully. "Because I certainly don't mind helping you out a bit around the gym."

"I don't mind." Junior said, smiling. He looked back over his shoulder to see that James was tilting Taiyang's head back with a bored expression on his face.

Typical check for injury.

Roman stood up a bit to figure out what it was that Junior was looking at, and then seeing James and Taiyang like that just made perfect sense.

Roman had half the mind to teach these boys how to use concealer. None of them should have been walking around looking like they just got into fistfights for a living- regardless of the fact that it appeared that was actually what a lot of them did.

He wondered whether Taiyang had a real job or not. Or Raven, or anyone else who seemed to hang around the gym all the time.

Junior locked his eyes with Roman again. "So, about last night-"

Roman blinked. He hadn't been expecting for the night before to be brought up, especially in a situation where other people were right there and could probably overhear them.

"What... what about last night?" Roman asked, bringing up his confidence. "You want to tell me how much you enjoyed it?"

Junior blushed.

Roman mentally facepalmed for making a joke.

"Uh, no, that's not it." Junior answered. "I just..." Hesitation. A bite of a lip. "I figured that I liked it and you seemed to like it so..." Junior paused again and raised a gloved hand so that he could scratch at the back of his neck- more of a rub, really. "I wanted to know if you'd maybe want to do that again?"

"I mean." Roman chuckled. "I  _ certainly  _ wouldn't mind another go with you, big guy."

Junior's flush deepened dramatically, but this time, Roman didn't try to make anything out of it or let himself feel bad for it. Junior was attractive, and Roman wasn't going to let him forget it.

He almost even forgot about the fact that everything that he and Junior had been doing could only be described as inappropriate.

"Do you... want to have food together?" Junior asked. He looked almost like he didn't know that he fit well into his own skin. "Or something?"

Roman blinked as he took a moment to try and figure out what exactly it was that Junior seemed to be trying to ask him. He figured that in theory, Junior was just asking him about whether or not they should eat, but at the same time...

It could have been a request for a date.

Maybe it was both.

Maybe Junior was just too awkward to be able to actually communicate the things that he wanted to.

Roman figured that was entirely possible and probably even likely. But he couldn't just hold out on answering Junior's question- of all the things that he could do, that would probably be the worst for the both of them.

"Food sounds nice." Roman said, flashing his best and brightest smile. "Food, wine, something else. I'm up for anything." He knew that those were probably things that he shouldn't have mentioned or asked for, but at the same time, it was a way that he could at least try to figure out what Junior was actually asking him for.

And he was going to do whatever it took if it meant that he could get a confirmation about whatever it was that Junior was thinking.

Junior smiled, his eyes bright. "Alright so how does-"

"Junior!" Taiyang called from across the ring. He was stretching and rolling one shoulder in its socket. He was sweaty, and his blonde hair was sticking to his forehead, and all that Roman could think upon seeing Taiyang like that, sweaty, cocky, and shirtless, was how  _ jealous  _ Summer would be if she knew that was what he'd gotten to see that day.

For a moment he debated taking a photo for her.

Junior looked back over his shoulder. "One moment!" He called, hoping to be able to do just enough that he'd be able to discourage Taiyang from getting irritated. He turned his eyes back to Roman. "Can we finish this talk later?"

"Of course, big guy." Roman chuckled. "I always have time for you."

The blush deepened on Junior's cheeks, but he nodded before turning around, giving Roman a nice view of his ass.

Roman  _ certainly  _ didn't mind it.

Roman let his eyes linger for a little too long, but that was it. Junior returned to his boxing, and that left Roman feeling like he didn't have any idea as to what he was doing there again. He had things to show to James and Junior, and he wanted to talk over their more recent financial issues with them, but that was it.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." A voice behind Roman said. Roman picked his head up and looked back over his shoulder to see James, standing there with a bored expression on his face as he too watched the sparring in the ring ahead of them. "Here for work?"

"Always am." Roman said with a quiet sigh before he stood up and stretched slightly. "I figure it's something that I should talk to either you or Junior about anyways."

James shrugged, his hands down in his pockets. "You know he has final approval."

"He always does." Roman mumbled. He picked up the manila folder and looked at his bag, unsure as to whether or not he actually wanted to bring it in with him. It wasn't as though he had anything that could even begin to be considered valuable in it- it was just clothes.

He just wasn't so fond of the prospect of leaving his things alone for the world to bother. Roman pursed his lips and picked up the bag- figuring that it was probably his best option. He followed after James until the two of them were in that dingy office as they had been many times before.

James wound around the desk until he was sitting on his usual side. Roman watched as James lowered himself down into the seat, a bit easier than he normally would have, and began to just organize the things on the desk.

Roman slipped himself down into the seat on the other side of the desk, leaned back, and just watched James. He adjusted the folder in his lap and even crossed his legs in his seat as he waited. It wasn't long until James was moving things off of the desk for good. When James finally leaned back into his seat and pulled a notepad towards him.

"So?" James began, clicking his pen. "What did you bring?"

Roman blinked, realizing for a moment that he didn't think that he'd ever seen James this businesslike. It was almost intimidating, but at the same time, this was their first proper one on one meeting since the two of them had met at Roman's office.

He hoped that this meeting would go a bit better than the last one had.

He set the folder down on the desk and flipped it open, removing two or three sheets of paper that looked like mock-ups for newspaper ads. He pushed them across the way to James, who picked the first of the sheets up with some difficulty due to the glove on his right hand.

James looked it over, and then looked up over the sheet of paper to meet Roman's eyes.

"Newspaper?" He asked, setting the first sheet down before dragging the other two close to him for inspection. "You know that-"

"I know that you two are already running a weekly ad." Roman said, raising his voice so that he could interject. "I was thinking that we could get this into the sports pages. Maybe that would be enough to get you two a bit more attention than the classifieds.”

“Roman, how are we going to afford this?” James asked, his voice somewhat gruff and almost even sounding weary. Roman had to wonder how often James had thought about doing this sort of thing but had never been able to justify bringing it up as an issue on the grounds of money alone.

There was a small part of him that felt bad.

"I'm promoting you, aren't I?" Roman asked, leaning forward so that he could hopefully catch James' eyes long enough that the two of them could make eye contact. He knew fully well that his best chance at getting anything done on this front was going to be in making a lot of eye contact with James. Whether that had to do with just communicating properly or whether it had more to do with intimidation wasn't something that he wanted to think about. "Look, leave the matter of money to me on this case-"

James opened his mouth to protest, but Roman waved it away in a nonchalant gesture. "I'm here to promote you. Nothing is changing. I want to make things better and since you two have been struggling..." Roman shrugged. "I'm doing every part I can to help. I just need to know that you trust me."

"What I  _ feel  _ doesn't matter." James said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "All decisions come down to Junior in the end. Not me. I simply advise him."

Roman raised an eyebrow and did his best to hide any disappointment or frustration from hitting his face. He knew that this was how things tended to go, but at the same time, he knew that telling James otherwise- that he did actually have an important role in this whole thing was probably a waste of time.

James wouldn't accept that. Roman knew that, and there was some small part of him that was worried about it.

"I'm aware." Roman said finally. "But I think that it wouldn't hurt to give an opinion."

James grimaced and picked a sheet up- one that had a minimal design that would have worked fairly well in an advertisement. "This looks good." James mumbled, sliding it to Roman. "I'm willing to give tentative approval but-" James' blue eyes flicked over to the door. "You know how it goes."

It was probably the best that Roman was going to get, and he knew that.

"Alright." He said, standing up and beginning to gather the various ads. "Do you want to run them by Junior or should I?"

James hesitated and shook his head. He stood up on the other side of the desk and began to walk around the side. "I think you should talk to Junior about it." James said, finally. "His approval is final. You know how it is."

"Right." Roman forced a flashy smile. "Of course."

Roman collected everything and began on his way out of the office. He was going to have to find a good way to talk to Junior about all of this sooner than later.

He didn't know whether or not he was going to bring up James'... Jamesness to Junior, however. He wondered if maybe he should. If maybe it would make some sort of small difference.

Somehow, he doubted that it would.

Whatever was going on there was long held and deeply entrenched.

In the ring, Junior was still there with Taiyang. Both of them looked entirely too good, and they were both well and wrapped up in their spar. Roman bit his lower lip- he wanted to ask, he wanted to stand up, and go ahead, and interrupt to talk to Junior.

But it was probably a bad idea.

Besides, he and Junior were going to be having food together sometime. Whether it was a date or not was a big question, but Roman figured that he was going to have to figure it out. If he was lucky, it'd even get figured out quickly.

He took a seat on one of the benches- he didn't technically have to be back at the office until the next day anyways. He had the time that said that he could spend his time there at the gym and help to clean things up and make a good impression of the place.

Roman went to the supply closet and pushed it open before reaching in and pulling out the broom.

MIght as well be useful.

Roman put himself to work.

When he was done sparring, Junior jumped down out of the ring, crossed the room, and met Roman over by the trophy cabinet.

Roman put on his best smile and turned to see the happy-looking Junior, who was quickly approaching.

"Hey." He greeted the much larger man. Roman slid his hands down into the depths of his pockets and tossed his head slightly so that he could ensure that his hair was out of his face. "I'm heading out."

"Yeah, I noticed." Junior said with a slight frown. "Is everything-"

"I dropped something off with James for you to take a look at." Roman shrugged, fairly certain that it wasn't going to make the biggest difference if he didn't get an answer right then and there on whether or not they wanted one of the ads- and which one they would want. "Hope you're okay with that?"

"Uh, yeah, I am." Junior answered, blinking. The tall man pulled his dark grey eyes away from Roman, looking a little bit confused. "So... about that thing-"

"Dinner, right?" Roman asked with a low chuckle. "I'm not sure tonight is good?"

Junior hesitated, looking for something to say. "So..." He hesitated. "When would be..."

"I don't have anything to do on Saturday?" Roman offered, smirking. "Would that work for you?"

"Uh, yeah." Junior answered. For just a second, Roman noticed the way that Junior's eyes flicked back towards the office. The tall man swallowed visibly, and Roman couldn't help but to worry about what that meant. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything good.

"Alright then." Roman said, drawing Junior's attention back onto him. "I'll see you then?"

"Yeah." Junior chuckled. "Definitely."

Roman smiled at him and nodded before sliding out the door to the gym and leaving Junior alone inside.


	28. Build Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isn't social anxiety fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ran a bit short, sorry about that. Hope you guys like it anyways!

"I seriously can't believe you're doing this." 

Junior turned his head and glared at James over his shoulder, only to get a bored look in response.

It had been an eventful day- the two of them had finally managed to scrounge together the money for their landlord and they were both pretty tired. The latter half of their day had been spent cleaning up around the gym and doing general management there, and that had been time consuming on its own. 

But it was Saturday, and somehow, despite everything, Junior was still going through with his plans to meet with Roman for food. Not that he really knew what it was going to end up being. He'd partially suggested that the two of them go out together just so that he could figure out what was going on with them.

Their last meeting one on one had been... weird. Not in an unpleasant way, it was just in the way that was ultimately rather confusing.

_ The kiss... _

The kiss had changed everything. It had put everything into context and had left Junior feeling a  little bit like he was falling apart at the seams. It was better than the state that he’d been in prior to the kiss, but Junior couldn’t help the feelings of discomfort and worry that had bred from everything. 

He wondered whether Roman was feeling the same way. He doubted it. 

Junior swallowed and turned around to see that James was sitting on the end of his bed, looking a little bit more than bored. Perhaps James was just disinterested. Maybe James just didn’t  _ care _ . Junior figured that he probably had a little bit to do with that. When he’d explained the situation to James, it had felt a little bit like he was trying to dance around the word ‘date’ when it just wasn’t coming.

It felt like it was a date, but he and Roman hadn’t agreed to that. The agreement was that they were going to get food together. 

How the night started versus how it was going to end was up in the air. 

And so now Junior was in his bedroom with James, hoping that he didn’t end up screwing everything up. Step one of that was choosing clothes, which he had asked James for help with.

Not that James was actually helping him that much.

"At least tell me I look presentable?" Junior asked, hoping that he'd be able to get James to give him something that he could work with instead of just teasing and boredom. 

James shot Junior a look that he wasn't quite able to place. He figured that James was probably just there to humor him rather than because he had any sort of actual interest in what was going on in Junior's life. Maybe this was just something that James didn’t feel right doing. 

_ “Please?” _ Junior pleaded, hoping that he would be able to get some sort of small reassurance that things were okay and not completely messed up.

"You look fine." James mumbled, looking away from Junior. A certain pang of guilt shot through Junior's chest when he realised that there was probably a reason for it- but he also knew that there wasn't exactly any asking James about it. If he tried, he’d just get shot down for it. 

Junior turned around, doing his best to smooth his shirt down over his body so that he could feel just a little bit less awkward. "This is a bad idea, isn't it?" James looked back over at him directly.

"I mean..." James hesitated on the answer. "Yes, yes it is."

"But you said that you approve, didn't you?"

"I do." James said. "But I also think that this is probably horribly inappropriate for you to do.  He's a good guy but I can't shake the feeling that..." His voice trailed off. James stared off into space, looking for something that wasn’t quite there. “It doesn’t matter. He makes you happy.” A dismissal of an issue, if anything. 

Junior had the feeling that he knew what would have capped off James' statement if he hadn’t trailed off when he had. He knew that it was probably going to be about the sanctity of the worker/client relationship. 

Deep down, Junior knew that James was probably right. He didn't want to think about it, but it was inappropriate.

It was nice of James to give him the excuse of happiness to keep going through with things. Junior figured that James knew he needed it.

"I don't know when I'm getting home." Junior said, turning back away from james to face back towards the mirror. "If you need anything-"

"I don't think I will." James mumbled. "But I know how to get ahold of you. You know that as well as I do."

Junior shifted his position slightly as he tried to figure out whether or not it was possible to somehow make eye contact between James and him in the reflection. "I'm just... nervous."

"I know."

"What if he realizes I'm awkward?"

"I'm sure he's realized it already." James’ deadpanned, and Junior couldn’t quite place whether it was a joke or whether it was James being seriously. 

Junior shot James a glare in the mirror for it, regardless of what it could be.

James sighed. "Look, he's probably not going to read into anything that much. He said yes to this, didn't he?"

That _ was _ kind of the problem though. Junior knew fully well that Roman had agreed to the two of them having an outing together, but it wasn't simple. It wasn't as though they'd agreed to a date.

All that had been agreed to was dinner, and explaining that to James- who seemed to be under the impression that this was a date was going to be difficult.

This was all Junior’s fault. If he’d been clear with Roman at the outset of everything, then none of these problems would have arisen. If he’d been clear then, he would have some sort of clue as to what he was supposed to do. 

"I mean, he did." Junior replied. "I don't really know why though."

"He's always flirting with you, Junior." James deadpanned again. "I think it's pretty obvious as to why."

The conversation was broken up by the sound of Junior's phone going off with a timer that announced that it was about time for Junior to leave. He and Roman had agreed that they were going to meet at a certain time, and if Junior was going to be on time, he had to leave in about ten minutes.

"Think I can do this?"

"I think you can." James mumbled.

Junior nodded. He figured that was probably about the best that he was going to be getting out of James. He had to go. He had to be ready, and he had to  _ go _ .

He turned and gave James a look. James sighed and nodded, standing up and leading the way out of Junior's bedroom so that there would be less for the two of them to worry about. Junior tried not to get himself too wrapped up in his worries.

He just had to take the car, and go and meet Roman at the restaurant that the two of them had agreed on. That was all that he had to do. It wasn’t like he had to pick up a gift, or flowers, or anything like that. All that he had to do was show up and eat with Roman. 

Junior made a mental note to make sure that he didn't end up bringing Roman home. James tended to be touchy enough, but the fact that he was going out to meet Roman for a possible date meant that he probably had to make sure that he didn't end up exasperating things. Besides, it was likely that Roman was going to be driving there on his own so it would just make the most sense that they didn’t go home together. 

"I'll see you later, okay?" Junior asked. He paused, trying to think of whether he should ask James about whether there was anything that the house needed, but decided against it. He was probably already running late enough as is.

"I'll be fine." James insisted.

There was no point in arguing it. Junior pulled a light jacket on, slipped into his shoes, and then he was out the door and on his way down to the car. He just had to drive to the restaurant, then he'd see Roman, and then whatever happened happened.

The kiss from a few days ago was still there, fresh in his mind. He could almost feel the lingering warmth and  pressure on his lips, and if he thought hard enough he could probably even pick up on Roman's scent- though he didn't know what it came from. Knowing Roman he’d probably smelled a cocktail of expensive products that Junior would never have been able to identify.

Thinking of it all was enough to make his heart jump in his chest as he realized just how much was going to be happening that night. He didn't know if the Roman that he was going to see was going to be the excitable, clean one that he always seemed to be while at work, or whether he was going to get the same relaxed sweatpants and t-shirt Roman that he'd gotten at the grocery store.

Junior had a feeling that no matter what Roman wore, he’d end up looking good in it. 

The possibilities were probably endless, and there was something that Junior actually found a little bit exciting about that.

But he had things to do. He had to drive, for one.

So Junior put his mind to it, and within ten minutes he was pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant that he and Roman had agreed on. It was a simple Italian place, nothing super fancy or anything like that. Junior had liked it because it would be affordable, Roman had liked it because it meant that he would be able to eat off of the menu.

When he pulled in, almost immediately Junior was scanning the parking lot for Roman's car. He didn't see the orange thing, and decided to take it as a sign that Roman simply hadn't arrived yet.

He supposed that was a good thing in theory. It meant that he could go in and ask for a table for two and then by the time that Roman showed up the two of them could even be getting ready to be seated. It would certainly make a good first impression...

Junior stopped himself. He wasn't even sure as to why he was thinking about first impressions right now. He and Roman knew each other plenty well... right?

Well.

No, not really.

There was a certain inequality about his and Roman's relationship that had arisen, Junior realized, and it wasn’t all based in their jobs. When he thought about it, the things that he knew about Roman weren't much. It was almost all work-related, and what he knew outside of that was all information that he'd gleaned from other people or things that Roman had meant for other people to hear.

In the end, all that Junior really knew about Roman was that he worked as a promoter and that he'd grown up in the foster care system, like James, and even then Junior wasn’t sure that he was technically supposed to know that.

That... really wasn't much. Maybe that meant that this was a chance for him to get to know Roman a little bit better. Junior didn’t even know Roman’s favorite color. There was a lot that he was going to have to find out, he just didn’t know if he’d get that chance.

He stepped into the restaurant and asked for the table, only to be given a wait time that Junior really didn't mind all that much. He just took the weird little buzzing square that was supposed to start vibrating when there was a table ready for them and took a seat by the door.

Junior decided to occupy himself with his phone. The door would swing open and shut, and every time Junior would find himself looking up. It was only on the fifth instance of this happening that Roman finally stepped in.

"Roman?" Junior asked, raising his voice just enough that he could catch the redhead's attention.

Roman looked around, his eyes wide. He caught sight of Junior, and his expression sank into a pleased looking smile.

"Hey." Roman said, taking a seat next to Junior. "Everything okay?"

Junior held up the box. "Just waiting on our table."

"You..." Roman paused, looking confused. "You already asked for a table?"

"I figured it wouldn't hurt?"

Junior watched Roman's expressions carefully. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd already screwed this whole thing up by deciding to jump the gun on getting them a table or not. But he was lucky, not just because Roman was generally a fairly relaxed person to spend time with, but also because Roman was  _ expressive _ .

Roman nodded and put on a smile before seating himself in a spare chair beside Junior. For the first time, Junior actually managed to get a good look at how Roman had dressed himself.

In a way, he looked a lot like he had the first time that he'd come into Xiong's to meet with him. It was just something about Roman- maybe it was the perfectly combed hair, or the pressed black slacks that he was wearing, or maybe it was something about the white button down that had been rolled up at the sleeves.

As expected, Roman looked  _ really _ good.

Junior couldn't help but to feel a little bit inadequate in his khakis and his one good blue shirt. He hoped that Roman wasn't judging him too much for it all. But at the same time, he didn’t really own anything better. He’d never had a reason to.

"So, how are you doing?" Roman asked, leaning in towards Junior slightly and putting on the brightest grin that he could manage. Junior was thankful for it- he hadn't thought that he was going to be getting many good chances to see Roman as Roman, but here he was.

"I'm doing alright." Junior managed to answer without sounding too awkward. "You know, just... here."

Roman smiled and Junior didn't want to know what it was for. Whether or not he'd already gone ahead and managed to make an embarrassment of himself that evening.

"You really are." Roman commented, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in his seat a bit. "I'm going to guess that this isn't your usual sort of place?" He looked up and gestured to the building around them. Junior couldn't tell why he was bringing it up, but at the same time, he was glad for it.

It was a welcome distraction from everything else that had been going on that day, and all of the nerves that had arisen in the pit of Junior's stomach as a result.

Junior swallowed and tried to make himself comfortable. "I, uh..." He looked around. "Yeah, not really. I'm not much of one for Italian but..."

"Let me guess." Roman chuckled. "Fan of the meat?"

Junior blinked.

For once in his life, he really couldn't determine whether that was an innuendo or not. He figured that typically Roman would be a little bit more lewd with his jokes, but this time...

He supposed that if Roman was going for innuendo he would have mentioned something about sausages.

At least he would have in theory.

Roman was a strange one. Junior had long since accepted that fact.

"I mean, steak is good around the world, right?" Junior managed to play off his confusion with a grin and a shrug. Roman hummed quietly and leaned back into his seat even further. “As long as the guy cooking it is competent, you can’t mess it up, you know?”

Roman hummed quietly before speaking up. "I was personally looking forward to some pasta." Roman commented. "Spaghetti. Linguini. Ravioli. Ravioli gives me-"

Roman was cut off by the sound of the square that Junior was given buzzing to alert the two of them that there was a table ready for them. Junior shot Roman a sheepish smile and stood up before walking up to the front.

He spoke briefly to the waiter that was at the front, and then looked back over his shoulder to see that Roman had already joined them.

Junior smiled at the redhead, and then the two of them were making their ways to the back of the restaurant to enjoy a meal together.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

It wasn’t like there weren’t a thousand ways for this to go wrong or anything.


	29. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner is served.

By the time their food arrived, Roman and Junior were well into their salad and breadsticks that they'd been given upon their arrival. There was also about half a bottle of wine that had been drank between the two of them.    
  
Roman had come to this meeting feeling cautiously excited about the whole thing. A few days before when Junior had approached him about the two of them getting something to eat together, he'd been fairly certain that it was just Junior's general awkwardness carrying him through the request.    
  
Now though, he wasn't so sure.    
  
Across from him, Junior was smiling widely and laughing at a bad joke.    
  
Roman figured that he should probably breach the topic of  _ what _ all of this was at some point, but at the same time, the two of them had reached a comfortable medium where they didn't have to acknowledge the very real possibility that both of them were considering this a date. 

"So." Junior said, setting down his napkin and leaning in towards the table slightly. They'd been lucky enough to get a table that was tucked away in a corner, and Roman had managed to hide himself there.   
  
Junior made for a good human shield, it turned out.    
  
Roman didn't mind it.    
  
"So?" Roman asked, setting down his fork and leaning back against the back of his seat. "Something wrong, big guy?"    
  
"I uh...." Junior hesitated, and looked away from Roman with a somewhat sheepish look. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad you agreed to this..." Junior paused, presumably looking for anything that he could say without having to say the word 'date' out loud. "Meal." 

_ God _ , he was  _ awkward _ sometimes.    
  
Junior was very lucky to come off as mostly just adorable in his awkwardness though, Roman noted. Adorable wasn’t a word that he would have usually applied to someone who was barely under seven feet tall, but with Junior it felt appropriate.    
  
"I'm always game for something nice to eat, big guy." Roman smiled across the table at him and tried to put on all of his charms. He was going to be the  _ best _ not-date that Junior would ever have in his life.    
  
Even if it killed him.    
  
And that was unlikely.    
  
Well.   
  
Unlikely as long as the two of them didn't end up going home together. Roman knew that probably wasn’t what he  _ should _ have been thinking about, but it was a nice possibility.    
  
"Well, I thought that..." Junior paused, looking up to see that a waiter had approached their table with a plate of food in tow.   
  
Junior politely cut himself off before he could end up making an embarrassment of himself. Besides, the waiter was surely only going to be there for a minute and then the two of them would be alone again.    
  
It was only a minute- mostly prolonged by Roman's request for extra parmesan on his pasta. Once the waiter was gone, Junior let out a sigh of relief and continued talking. 

"I was worried that this place wouldn't have anything that you..." Junior paused. Roman cocked his head to the side, not really sure whether or not he wanted to know what Junior was about to ask him. Junior drummed his fingers on the table and looked away before finally finishing. "You know, stuff could eat?" He finally managed, and Roman realized that Junior didn’t sound confident about the question at all. 

Roman smiled politely, wondering whether it was worth it to explain what he considered to be his dietary restrictions. Mostly, it wasn’t really Junior’s business, but he was glad that the guy was considering it.    
  
He picked up his fork and began to move some of the food around on his plate- doing his best to uncover the eggplant parmesan that was hidden amongst the pasta. "I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't think I'd be able to eat off the menu." Roman answered, looking up at Junior just long enough that their eyes met.    
  
He had to take a moment when he realized how stunningly dark Junior's eyes were. Before, Roman had never really gotten a good look at them- there was always something stopping him.    
  
Usually a height difference of several inches.    
  
But that grey was something that he hadn't really expected. It was a comforting shade with so much depth that it took Roman's breath away and made him feel like he was drowning under Junior's gaze.    
  
He tried not to think about the way that he could feel his heartbeat speeding up in his chest. It wasn't something that he should have been focusing on- Roman knew that all too well.    
  
But still.    
  
"Roman?" Junior asked, sounding almost worried by the pause. Realizing that he may have thrown the always awkward Junior off of his game, Roman just sat up properly.    
  
"Everything's fine." Roman offered, smiling sweetly at Junior across the table. "Don't worry about it."    
  
He could have sworn that he saw Junior's cheeks go a bit red.   


It made it hard not to smile.    
  
He found his eggplant parmesan though, and cut into it with a knife instead of the side of his fork as he normally would have. He  _ wanted _ to leave a good appearance tonight- no sloppiness was allowed. Not that he was usually a sloppy person- he still didn’t want to risk it.   
  
Regardless of whether Junior was the type to get bothered by it or not.    
  
That wasn't what mattered.    
  
If Roman was going to feel secure here, he needed to be sure that he was going to be able to drift by with good appearances. Nice clothes, pristine makeup, hair that won't go out of style. 

He couldn't let some red sauce ruin that because he'd decided to get lazy in cutting his food.    
  
"So, uh..." Junior started, only to pause quickly after. Roman couldn't help but to wonder what was on the guy's mind- he hoped it wasn't anything bad.    
  
He couldn't stand it if that was it.    
  
"Yeah?" Roman asked, keeping his voice quiet.    
  
"How's your day been?"    


Roman blinked, because that hadn't been the sort of question that he'd been expecting to get out of Junior. It was weird for them to revert back to this sort of small talk when the two of them had spent so much time together.    
  
The weirdness had nothing to do with the fact that Roman just plain didn't really know what to say. What was he supposed to tell Junior, that he'd spent all day at a desk?    
  
He was pretty sure that Junior's days tended to be far more interesting than his ever were. Even if the only real reason for that was the cast of characters that Junior was usually around.    
  
He paused and set his fork down before reaching for his glass. "Well, you know, I just spent all day behind a desk." He answered. "Not much to talk about." For a second, he felt bad. There was probably a better thing that he could say- for instance, he could tell Junior what sort of things he did for the other businesses that he found work at.    
  
It was just weird. 

"Let me explain." Roman said after a sip of his drink. He shifted slightly and leaned in. "So I work for you guys, but I also have a lot of other clients. The stuff I do with you guys is pretty different from what I do with all of my other clients. Most of my other clients are food industry or entertainment. Not really... not like you at all, really."    
  
"So what do you even do for those clients?" Junior asked quietly. "Is it just the same sort of stuff that you do for us?"    
  
Roman shrugged.    
  
"A lot of it's just making sure that they have good schedules. If you don't have a good timetable for events things fall apart." Roman sighed, locking his eyes with Junior and putting on the best smile that he could manage. "It's really not that interesting."    
  
Junior nodded slowly as he stabbed at his own food- Roman had never seen him do that before, he realized. But then again, every other time that he'd eaten with Junior it either had been finger food or something that couldn't exactly be stabbed with a fork.    
  
He wondered if this was just another of Junior's nervous tics. It seemed like the guy had a lot of them.    
  
"So, why don't you tell me about how things at the gym are going, big guy?" Roman asks. "I imagine you worked out? It shows."    
  
A blush rose on Junior's cheeks, one that was frankly adorable and was more than enough to make a gentle smile split Junior's expressions. "Well, we uh..." He looked away, trying to collect his thoughts. "It was an interesting day?"   
  
"Define interesting?"    
  
Junior blinked. "Well, we had some kids come in for lessons. It would have been great if not for the fact that Taiyang and Raven insisted on making a speedbag gauntlet through the gym."    
  
Roman raised an eyebrow. He really didn't know exactly what Junior was talking about, and he also wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to know.    
  
'Speedbag gauntlet' just had a certain sort of questionable feel from it based on the phrase alone.    
  
Hence the not really wanting to know.   
  
"You're... going to have to explain this one to me."    
  
Across from him, Roman watched as Junior blinked. He figured that this wasn't a sort of question that he got asked often, just because he probably didn't deal with many people who weren't completely inundated with the culture of boxing that Junior was such a part of and seemed to have been living within ever since his childhood. 

Junior set his fork down and reached for his phone. That made Roman raise an eyebrow as he wondered whether or not the explanation he was going to be given was just going to be a video off of the internet. He watched as Junior checked something before tucking his phone back away.    
Probably a message from someone important.    
  
Roman figured it wasn't his business.    
  
Junior's soft grey eyes locked with Roman's, and then he began his explanation. "So a speedbag is basically a small boxing bag. We don't bring them out often unless we're training for speed, but it's a bag that'll rebound at you if you don't hit it back away fast enough."    
  
Roman nodded- he figured that made enough sense.    
  
"Alright then." Roman chuckled. "And what about the gauntlet part of it?"   
  
Junior smiled- and oh, it was a wide, beaming smile that Roman didn't get to see nearly as often as he would have liked. "Well, they've set up speedbags in every doorway at the gym except for the front one. If you need to get somewhere, you have to fight your way there." Junior's eyes and voice went all soft then. "I don't mind that they're taking a chance to train more, but..."   
  
"But I imagine James isn't appreciating having a bag installed in the entrance to his office?"    
  
Junior laughed. "Technically it's my office, but no, not really." He shook his head, his hair flopping about just slightly. "He and I are taller- it's more of a pain for us than everyone else."    
  
This time it was Roman's turn to let out a quiet laugh. He hadn't even considered the fact that James and Junior ranged from large to gigantic and how that would be an issue with things installed in every doorway.    
  
The frustration had to be very, very, real.    
  
"Once the tournament is over-" Roman started, but he found himself hesitating instead of going on as he realized that those words had a lot of meaning to him these days. In theory, after the tournament was going to be when his contract with Xiong's had to be renegotiated and discussed. The tournament almost gave a finite quality to his work with Junior.    
  
Would he ever even see the guy again once he didn't work for him anymore? Would that just be the end of things- would Roman slip back into a life where he was getting his neck sucked into angry bruises at nightclubs because that was the only way that he got to spend time with people outside of work?    
  
Before he'd never really had a relationship with a client that was anything near what he and Junior had. He'd never spent time with a client outside of work before.    
  
Especially not like this.    
  
Normally there wouldn't be any sort of emotional quality to the relationship, and definitely not a physical one. But nothing was going to change the fact that Roman was there now, sitting across a dinner table at a relatively nice restaurant with Junior across from him. Nothing could really change the fact that the two of them had kissed not too long ago either.    
  
Nothing could change the fact that Roman really wouldn't have minded being able to bring Junior home with him at some point, or that he wouldn't have minded Junior offering to take him home at some point.    
  
There were a lot of things that Roman still didn't know. He didn't know how attracted Junior was to him, but at the same time, he was at a certain point where he wasn't so sure that he  _ cared _ . The guy had gotten wrapped up enough in things that Junior had felt okay with kissing him, so Roman was pretty sure that had to speak for something.    
  
Roman forced a smile onto his face. "Once the tournament is over, I'd be happy to keep on helping you out." He tried not to acknowledge the fact that he was technically going to be coming off of contract work with Xiong's,. Maybe if he didn't acknowledge it Junior never would either. Maybe that was just the easiest way for the two of them to talk about things. "I like you guys, and I do want to see you succeed and all of that. It's a family business right?"    
  
"My father's." Junior confirmed. He paused for a moment, like there was something wrong with the words before breathing out a correction. " _ Our _ father's. James and mine."    
  
Roman raised an eyebrow, feeling very unsure of what information he'd accidentally become privy to. He'd noticed in the past that the relationship of the Xiong family was always strained- learning that James was adopted out of the foster system had put a lot of that into context.    
  
But usually  _ James _ was the one that was refusing to acknowledge or stumbling over the family status. He'd never seen Junior stumble over it- not even once. It made him worry quite a bit to think about it in that way.    
  
"Right." Roman answered, drawing out the I for a little bit longer than he should have. In the back of his mind Roman knew that it wasn't exactly the nicest thing that he could do, but he also just wanted to be sure that things were going to be okay. Maybe if he gave Junior a chance to call him out if something was wrong?    
  
"Look, I know things are weird but..." Junior started and let out a heavy sigh. Roman watched the way that he moved and realized quickly that Junior was looking far less comfortable than he probably should have. He was looking like he was just as aware of his mistake as Roman was. "He  _ is _ my brother, Ro. I know he doesn't act like it but if we lost the gym..."    
  
Junior paused on his words. 

"If we lost the gym, I don't know how well James would be able to take it."   
  
Roman ended up being barely aware of the fact that his mouth had dropped open slightly at Junior’s words. Somehow, it had ended up being something that Roman hadn’t counted on. Something that he hadn’t really considered as a possibility.    
  
He decided fairly quickly that the best thing that he could really do was to just go ahead and reach across the table and take Junior’s hand- offer what little comfort he could. To his surprise, Junior didn’t do or say anything to protest Roman’s actions. He just let Roman take his hand, and when their hands met, Junior was the one to twine their fingers together in a motion of unspoken intimacy.    
  
It was more than just a little pleasant, Roman thought. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances, or the topic at hand, he would have wanted to just sit there with Junior together and just drink in each other’s presence.    
  
Junior was warm, his hands were large and comfortable wrapped up around Roman’s.    
  
“Junior, I’m here for as long as you need me to be.” Roman said, deciding in that moment that the best thing that he could have done was to just throw the contract that he was under to the wind because  _ maybe _ it was just wrong to think about his entire relationship with Xiong’s in terms of a finite period of time.    
  
There was a very real, very human aspect that Roman was aware he’d probably been ignoring to some degree.    
  
"You mean that?" Junior asked as he stared deep into Roman's eyes, so deeply that Roman almost ended up feeling like he was naked for it. He wasn't really sure how much he actually minded that, but the feeling was too real."    
  
"Yeah." Roman said, forcing on a smile. "I mean it." He let his eyes flicker away for a moment as he tried to think about whether or not there was a way that he could do his usual thing and restore comfort to the table. Was there some joke he could make, some way that he could just raise the spirits? 

Nothing came to mind.    
  
Junior smiled back at him and nodded, seeming like he was almost relieved himself  by the statement. When the man finally spoke, his voice was more than just a little bit hushed. Roman could have sworn that he felt a shiver race up his spine at the sound of it. .   
  
"What are you thinking about?" Junior mumbled, trying to get Roman to open up a little bit more.The man's thumb travelled over the back of Roman's knuckles. For the first time, Roman was able to look down at his and Junior's hands properly.    
  
Junior's hands were large and angular, where his were softer and more delicate- largely just a difference caused by their respective lines of work. Roman didn't have any scars to boast of, or calluses, but Junior had some slight scars along his knuckles.    
  
If Roman hadn't known Junior as well, he would have thought that those had a story, but Junior was a boxer. It was just his line of work that had caused those scars, in all likelihood.

Roman opened his mouth a little bit so that he could give some sort of answer to Junior, but nothing came to mind. He just found himself staring at the light scarring on the guy's knuckles until he couldn't get away with it any longer. In one motion, Roman peeled his gaze away and brought it up to meet Junior's face instead.    
  
"I was just thinking about this whole thing." Roman answered calmly. "You know... us."    
  
"What about us?" Junior asked, leaning in slightly towards Roman from the other side of the table. He was interested- that was easy enough for Roman to tell. He just wasn't so sure what he was really looking for from Junior's reactions.    
  
"Well, you know that this whole thing has been..."    
  
"Inappropriate is the word that's been thrown around a lot, right?" Junior answered, stabbing at his food with his fork. "I don't get why it's such a big deal."    
  
_ What? _   
  
Roman blinked, a little bit unsure of whether he was supposed to say something or not. He'd figured that everyone was on the same page about how this wasn't going to work out for the most part. As long as Roman worked for Junior, it would have been wrong for them to pursue a proper relationship because of the fact that Roman was technically working for Junior. It could have been considered one taking advantage over the other all too easily.    
  
But then again, he supposed that Junior didn't have much experience in the world of proper business.    
  
But it sounded like Junior didn't quite get it, and that was perhaps the most interesting part of it all.    
  
"It'd be considered as one of us taking advantage over the other." Roman explained, keeping his words as level as he possibly could manage them for just the time being. He didn't want to get too emotional at the moment. "It's best not to open ourselves up to the possibility of people seeing it that way."    


Junior nodded slowly, though to Roman it looked a little bit more like the guy was trying to put together his own thoughts on what was going on at the moment. Maybe he was just now getting it.    
  
He hadn't been prepared for what Junior asked next.    
  
"So then what is this?" Junior asked, gesturing to the table between the two of them. Roman became impossibly aware of how far the gap between the two of them stretched. It was just a tabletop, but it felt like an eternity. One that was all too easy to reach across and close.    
  
All that Roman would have to do was reach towards the center of the table, and then presumably Junior would understand what he was looking for. Perhaps they could hold hands.    
  
Roman didn't let himself reach out in that way. He knew better than that. 

"I don't know, big guy." Roman began, falling into his characteristic act that he used when it was time to get people thinking that there was absolutely nothing wrong. He needed to be able to keep people from thinking that there was anything on his mind. "We could call it a lot of things. A dinner between colleagues, a business meeting over dinner-"    
  
"A date?" Junior cut Roman off, using that word that Roman was sure he'd spent the entire evening dancing around. When Junior had asked him if he wanted to get food together, he'd figured that was what Junior had meant.    
  
It was just another thing to go ahead and say the word though.    
  
Roman nodded slightly, blinking and putting on a smile that looked much shier than it actually was. "If that's what you want to call it." He let that smile turn into his characteristic grin of his. "I certainly wouldn't mind you taking me home after-"    
  
"Really?" Junior raised an eyebrow, and for a moment Roman had to wonder whether he'd gone too far again or not. Whether this was Junior reacting to the flirt because he was sick of hearing them from Roman or whether it was him taking it as a proper proposition.    
  
Roman didn't really know how he meant it.    
  
"Yeah." He finally said. "Really."    
  
Junior didn't say anything to Roman, which was probably the greatest surprise of all.    
  
"Okay." He finally said, sounding far too calm for Roman's liking. Instead of Roman having to reach out and offer himself for Junior to hold his hand, Junior did it himself, reaching across with one of those too-large hands.    
  
Roman smiled slightly and reached across, grasping Junior's hand in his.    
  
People couldn't be hurt by anything that they didn't know. And Roman was pretty sure that Junior could keep a secret.    
  
The stroke of Junior's thumb against the back of his hand sent a shiver up Roman's spine that was entirely too pleasurable.    
  
He definitely didn't mind.


	30. Close Comforts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date Night 2: Electric Boogaloo

" _ Be quiet _ ." 

Junior whispered the command to Roman as he slipped into his and James’ shared apartment.  The two of them weren't going to be there for long- just long enough that Junior could grab some things for overnight, and then they'd be gone. He and Roman had decided that going to Roman’s place was a better idea than sticking around at Junior’s apartment.     
  
But regardless of how long the two of them were going to be there, Junior didn’t want to end up making too much of a disturbance when the two of them went in.    
  
"Got it." Roman answered, crossing his arms over his chest as Junior pulled the door open.    
  
"James?" Junior called, checking whether or not James was in the living room or not. Just ahead of where he was standing, he could see the glow of the TV, and he could hear that it was being kept with a low volume.   
  
"Living room." A voice called from inside.    
  
Okay, so James was at least  _ awake _ .    
  
Junior looked back at Roman over his shoulder and nodded before going deeper into the apartment. He left the door open behind him, if only so that Roman wouldn’t feel too awkward standing in the hallway alone.    
  
He stepped into the living room to see that James was curled up on the couch with a mug of something in his hands and a blanket pulled over his lower half.    
  
James looked up at him, looking a little too tired for Junior's liking. He’d probably taken his painkillers fairly recently.   
  
"What is it?" James asked, sounding a bit groggy, which was enough to confirm Junior’s suspicions. 

"I'm staying the night at Roman's." Junior said, matter of factly, letting his gaze flick back to Roman for just a second. "I just wanted to swing by and pick some stuff up before I go."    
  
James looked up at him, and Junior didn't need much to realize that he had probably just confused James without much effort at all. It shouldn't have been weird, but he knew that it was going to be anyways.    
  
His brother's eyes flicked away from him and back towards the TV, and then James was speaking in that controlled tone. "I'll be fine." He mumbled, reaching for the remote so that he could at least pause what he was watching. "I take it Roman's here too?"    
  
"He is." Junior confirmed. "Only for a little while though. I can leave the car with you if you want?"    
  
"Please do." James answered. Junior watched him carefully and didn't need much to notice the way that James' gaze traveled over towards the door where Roman was waiting for him. "I take it your dinner went well?"

"It did." Junior confirmed. "We just figured you'd want to be left alone."    
  
James opened his mouth to say something, but it just clamped back shut a moment later. Junior could see the way that James worked his jaw in some sort of emotion that Junior was sure he wouldn't be able to place. He was sure that he didn’t want to know what was going through James’ head at the moment either.   
  
"Alright." James said, finally. "I'll see you when I see you."    
  
"Thanks, Jim." Junior said before looking towards the door and Roman. The poor guy looked more awkward than Junior had ever seen him before. "Do you mind if he comes in for a little while? Just while I get my things?"   
  
James sighed and nodded. Junior turned and looked to the door. Roman was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest and looking a little bit bored with the whole thing. He just nodded over towards the couch, and Junior loved seeing the way that a smile split Roman's expression.   
  
Roman stepped into the apartment and came into the living room. Junior stuck around just long enough to make sure that Roman and James were comfortable before he slipped off to his bedroom so that he could grab an overnight bag.    
  
It had been a long time since he'd last needed one.    
  
He hadn't needed one since before James' injury at the very least, Junior found himself thinking as he dumped the contents of his gym bag out onto his bed. The thought almost made him sad as he realized how things had more or less fallen apart all at once. Had he really not socialized like this in so many years? It was sobering to think about. 

But he needed to focus on the task at hand, Junior reminded himself. 

He had to pause for a moment as he wondered what he would even  _ need _ for a night at Roman's.    
  
There were some things that were obvious, like clothing, but there were a hundred other things that weren't as obvious or as easy to figure out. Should he bring a pillow, a blanket, or anything extra like that? Should he bring his own shower soap?   
  
Why was he even  _ thinking _ about that? Surely he'd end up sleeping on either the floor or a couch- assuming that Roman had one long enough for him. 

This was part of the reason he'd had stopped going to other people's homes for overnight visits, he reminded himself. Too many people weren't able to accommodate someone of his stature with spaces to sleep. Junior was sure that Roman would try to help, but...   
  
Junior frowned and let out a sigh before picking up his pillow and stuffing it down into his bag. He stepped up to his dresser and began to gather some clothing. Good pants. Nice shirt. Pajama pants and a shirt that he cared a little bit less for.    
  
Piece by piece, everything made its way down into his bag, until Junior wasn't sure that there was something that he was missing or not.    
  
He was about to zip the bag back shut when the fear arose in his chest, telling him that he wasn't going to be good enough on this visit. He was going to end up feeling too awkward to talk to Roman, or he was going to realize how out of place he was as soon as he got there or-   
  
Junior forced himself to cut off that line of thought before it could get too dangerous. Before he could drag himself down to a state where having a good visit wouldn’t even be possible. 

He was pretty sure that he knew Roman well enough.   
  
He _could_ do this.  
  
He just had to _do it._   
  
The large man sucked in a deep breath and zippered his bag shut before slinging it over his shoulder and stepping out of his bedroom to see that James and Roman were sitting together on the couch, making awkward small talk as they waited for him.   
  
Roman looked up at him when he stepped into the room and flashed him that same cocky smile that he always liked to give. It almost was enough to assuage all of the nervous feelings that had built up in his stomach. Junior managed a weak smile back at Roman, and without a word being said, Roman got up.   
  
"I suppose that's our cue." He said, looking down at James and then up at Junior.  "Ready to head out?"  
  
"I am." Junior answered. He looked down at James, who was just leaning back in his seat a little bit further than he'd been before. "You going to be alright?"  
  
"I will be." James answered, though his voice was quiet. He was sure that if something was wrong, he'd get a phone call. Junior figured that was all that he could take comfort in because of the way that James was. "I'll let you know."  
  
Junior nodded and smiled, shifting his bag on his shoulder so that he could feel a little bit more comfortable. Roman patted his pockets, looking for his keys, and Junior took the reminder to drop his keys onto the table in front of James.   
  
"I'll see you soon?"

"Of course." James mumbled.    
  
That was the best that Junior knew he could hope for. With that, he and Roman left the apartment, closing the door behind them before taking the walk down to the parking lot where they'd left Roman's car.    
  
As usual, Junior got in at shotgun, but only once Roman had made sure that it was going to be possible for him to get in without making anything weird happening. They drove across the city towards the street where Roman lived.    
  
Neither of them talked much for the drive across the city since it wasn't such a big deal. Both Roman and Junior were content to let the music on the radio fill the space between them until Roman was pulling up in front of a building and parking.    
  
Roman looked over at him and just smiled in a way that was almost enough to comfort some of the discomforts that had built up in the pit of his stomach. "We're here." Roman announced with much ceremony as he unbuckled his seatbelt. 

Junior nodded and moved to get out of the car before Roman put up the roof of the car. He just stood there awkwardly just out of reach while he waited, but soon enough Roman was there stepping up alongside Junior.    
  
To his surprise, Roman actually got close to him, even bothering to wrap an arm around Junior's and squeezing gently. "Should I bring you up?"   
  
"I uh... I guess so." Junior answered, knowing that there was a flush rising on his cheeks that was only slightly uncomfortable. "So, do you think there'll be somewhere for me to sleep or-"   
  
"There's always my bed." Roman laughed as he got the two of them to the front door. Junior felt the way that Roman unwrapped himself from his arm and watched as Roman unlocked the door. It doesn't take long, and soon the two of them are up the stairs on the way to Roman's apartment.   
  
"Your bed?"   
  
"I mean." Roman looked at Junior, and it would have taken a fool to fail to notice the way that Roman's eyes flicked up and down his body for just a second. "I don't know that my couch will be big enough for you. Besides, it's not like it isn't anything we haven't done before."   
  
Junior couldn't tell whether that was a relief or not to hear. Whether it was Roman trying to make him feel better or trying to make his usual flirtations. Roman rolled his eyes and stopped in front of a door and took a moment before pushing it open.   
  
Roman stepped into the apartment and took a second to slip out of his shoes before stacking them up cleanly beside the door. The redhead took a few steps further back and smiled warmly at Junior before gesturing to the spacious apartment around him.    
  
"Come in."   
  
Junior took the first step in and closed the front door behind him before taking the chance to get out of his shoes, but he didn't take the time to make sure that they were out of the way or anything. That wasn't high on his list of priorities.    
  
The first thing that struck Junior about Roman's apartment was how  _ clean _ it was. It wasn't the sort of hospital-like sanitary cleanliness that Junior had come to expect from James' living space, but it was the kind that was just very organized. Things were where they belonged and if they weren't it was almost impossible for him to tell.    
  
The second thing that struck Junior was the fact that the apartment was ultimately rather small. It definitely wasn't a place that could have accommodated more than one person for an extended amount of time, but at the same time, Junior was fairly certain that Roman just preferred it that way. Roman never did really seem like the type that would have much interest in sticking to someone longtime.    
  
It just didn't seem like him.    
  
Junior tried not to think about what  _ that _ could possibly mean for him in the long run.   
  
"So, what do you think, big guy?" Roman asked, shooting him a comforting smile the entire time. "Like it?"

"Yeah." Junior answered, swallowing down some of his nerves and stepping deeper into the apartment. "It's really nice, but I can't really say that I knew what to expect?"   
  
"Yeah, I get that." Roman mumbled, and there was a certain moment where his eyes went all soft and Junior couldn't exactly help the way that his breath caught in his throat at the sight. For the first time, he was struck by how  _ attractive _ Roman was.    
  
Maybe it was just because they were in Roman's apartment. He'd probably never seen Roman more in his element than now, and it showed, quite clearly.    
  
"So, uh, what do you want to do?" Roman asked, like he was trying to get some sort of lead for how the rest of their evening was going to go. Based on some comments at the restaurant, Junior was willing to bet that he knew what Roman wanted, but this suggested otherwise.    
  
This told him that Roman wanted for him to be comfortable too.

Junior let his hands slide down into his pockets in hopes that he could make himself feel a little bit more comfortable. He let his eyes travel around the apartment in hopes that he could find anything that he could use to comfort him over all of this. Something that could serve as a distraction of sorts, even if it would be momentary.    
  
His gaze fell on the television, and an idea sparked in his mind before he looked back at Roman directly. "We could watch a movie?" Junior asked, though he wasn't at all sure whether or not Roman was going to be willing to take the suggestion.    
  
But it was Roman, so of course he did.    
  
"Dinner and a movie?" Roman purred, stepping close to Junior for a moment and looking up at him with those vibrant green eyes. "Awful  _ romantic  _ of you. I almost might start thinking that you like me."    
  
For the first time in a long time, Junior just found himself laughing in response to Roman's jokes. It actually made him feel quite a bit better- though there was still going to be the problem of whether or not they could agree on something to watch. But Roman didn't do anything weird or awkward. He just wrapped an arm around Junior's and gave a gentle tug as he was led over towards the couch.    


Junior seated himself there, and Roman looked like he was about to join him, but hesitated for a long moment as though something had just struck his mind.    
  
Their eyes met.    
  
"Wait for me there, big guy?" Roman asked, smiling down at Junior.    
  
"Uh, sure?"    
  
Roman flashed a toothy grin and then slipped out of the room, leaving Junior alone to his devices, at least for a little while.

So in the end, Junior just ended up sitting there awkwardly on Roman's couch while he waited for his friend to return. He took the time to look around Roman's living room and see what he could learn. There were a few things that stood out to him, but most conspicuously, there was the fact that there seemed to be nothing along the lines of family photos or anything similar. It made sense, Junior thought, remembering the conversation about James and Roman’s similar backgrounds. 

He couldn’t help the feeling of sadness that gripped at his chest, though.    
  
The decorations that were in that room were all the sorts of things that someone would have picked up just by living. Interesting paintings, fun bits and bobs that gave the room color, and occasionally, even small displays where Roman had put up examples of posters and ads that he'd made for people that he seemed particularly proud of.    
  
The door to Roman's bedroom opened, and Roman stepped out, with two folded blankets in his arms. He walked around the couch and seated himself there with Junior before passing a bright red plush blanket off to him.    
  
"Figured you'd want it." Roman said, smiling sweetly up at Junior. "Wanna pick a movie?"    
  
Junior blinked and looked down at the blanket, not really sure that he actually wanted it, but if Roman thought that it could end up being a factor somehow, then Junior was willing to believe that fact.    
  
"Do you have-"    
  
"I have pay per view." Roman answered. "Video streaming. Not much for DVDs."   
  
Junior realized then that there probably wasn't going to be any getting out of this so easily. Roman had a lot of options, and Junior was willing to bet that the two of them were going to have a bit of time before they came to a conclusion on something to watch.    
  
But then again, it was probably easier to just let Roman choose.   
  
“I uh…” Junior started, hoping that he would be able to deflect some of the awkwardness and put Roman in control. While he felt like he was distinctly out of his element, Junior knew that his best chances were going to come from him letting Roman do whatever Roman did. “Maybe you should pick? I don’t really have any preferences as far as movies go.” 

Roman gave him a look that Junior wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to see from the man. But Roman didn’t say anything to Junior. Instead he just opted to give a small shrug before reaching for a remote and searching through options until he found something.    
  
When he looked over at Junior for confirmation that it was a good choice, Junior just decided that the best thing that he could do was just go ahead and smile back at Roman.    
  
And that seemed like it was all that Roman had needed.    
  
The movie began to play, and slowly Junior found himself settling into the couch next to Roman, becoming more and more comfortable as the movie played. Neither he nor Roman said anything- Junior figured that was all going to be coming up later on in the evening when it was time for bed and they were going to have to actually figure out sleeping arrangements.    
  
Roman’s couch  _ definitely  _ wasn’t long enough for Junior. He didn’t need much of anything to tell him that it was probably going to be a small issue.

The bright side was that Roman at least had carpeted floors, so if Junior ended up having to sleep on the floor then it wouldn’t be the  _ most _ uncomfortable arrangement possible.    
  
Junior was able to let his mind wander though- he was able to focus in on the movie playing on the tv, and then when Roman ended up with his head resting on Junior’s shoulder, Junior couldn’t bring himself to protest it.    
  
It was too comfortable. It almost made Junior feel like there was nowhere else in the world that he could have belonged. It was in the gentle weight of Roman against him, the soft rise and fall of Roman’s chest, the smaller man’s warmth and even his smell. All of it was comfortable.    
  
All of it was perfect, really.    
  
About half an hour into the movie, Roman shifted slightly against Junior’s body, and Junior found himself lifting an arm so that he could give the smaller man easier access to cuddle in against him. Hesitantly, Junior decided to speak.

“Are you comfortable?” Junior asked, not sure whether or not he should move or do something to accommodate Roman.   
  
Instead of of saying anything, Roman just hummed and cuddled further in against Junior so that he was most mostly resting against Junior’s body. The thinner man pulled a blanket around the two of them, making sure that it covered his lower half before draping it over Junior’s lap as well.    
Finally, Roman spoke.    
  
“I’d say so.” He said, sounding completely content. “Are you?”   
  
Junior paused, not sure whether there was going to be an easier way to answer that question with words. He smiled, closed his grip around Roman’s shoulders, and let out a contented breath. “I think I am.” He finally answered.

Roman shifted against Junior, twisting his body a little bit so that he could face Junior more directly. At least so much that their eyes could meet and enough so that they could both see each other’s faces. 

“This has been really nice, you know that, big guy?” Roman asked, catching Junior’s attention. “I didn’t really expect you to be the cuddly type.”   
  
“Well,” Junior started with a low chuckle. “There’s a reason that some people down at the gym just call me teddy.”   
  
“Can I call you teddy?” Roman chuckled. “Or is that nickname off limits?”   
  
Junior let out a laugh. “You’re not even going to ask?”

Roman raised an eyebrow, looking purely confused by what Junior was saying. “I figure they call you teddy because you’re big and warm.” His eyes narrowed like he was about to make a bad joke, and Junior raised a hand to cut him off instead.   
  
“Well, that’s part of it.” Junior explained with a low chuckle. “Taiyang’s responsible for the nickname. We’re both Chinese so…”   
  
“What does that have to do with anything?”    
  
“My name.” Junior explained, realizing that it was probably something that was going over Roman’s head, for multiple reasons. “I was named after my father, I guess you’ve figured that out. He was Hei Xiong, I am Hei Xiong Junior. It’s just Xiong means bear?”   
  
“Bear.” Roman blinked at Junior before raising a hand to poke Junior once on the arm. “You’re the baby bear.”

“What?” Junior blinked. He wasn’t even the youngest in the Xiong family.    
  
“LIke the fairy-” Roman cut himself off, smiling a little too widely. “Never mind. I like it though.”   
  
“I’m going to regret telling you that, aren’t I?” Junior couldn’t help but laugh.    
  
That smile of Roman’s turned into the devilish one that he liked to use when he was getting up to trouble. “I don’t know,” Roman began. “Are you baby bear?”    
  
And oh, that was all the confirmation that Junior needed to tell him that he was probably going to regret that whole conversation greatly. He just closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh before resting himself back into the couch even further. “I have a lot of regrets.”   
  
Roman twisted so that he was resting chest to chest with Junior and decided to place the point of his chin on Junior’s shoulder. “Do you now?”    
  
“Roman-”    
  
“What?” Roman half-laughed through the word and the corner of his eyes crinkled up slightly. “I’m just enjoying myself.”    
  
Junior stared down into Roman’s eyes. The green in them had gone all dark and alluring, and there was a certain fondness in them that he wasn’t quite used to. Roman seemed to realize what was going on and just smiled back up at Junior before pushing that red hair out of his face.    
  
“See something you like?”    
  
“Uh…” Junior swallowed, his gaze flicking down to Roman’s lips for a moment. “Yeah, I think so.”   
  
“Tell me what you want, big guy.” Roman smiled.    
  
“Will you say no if I do?”   
  
Roman raised a brow, very interested.    
  
“What is there to say no to?” Roman blinked. “You wanna take me to bed?”    
  
Junior felt his entire face go red at that question. It was a bit more forward that he would have preferred, but at the same time, it kind of gave him a good segue into his actual request. “How about a kiss instead?”   
  
“Boo.” Roman answered, smiling before pushing himself up and pressing his lips to Junior’s.    
  
Roman’s lips were soft and warm, and Junior just found himself wrapping his arms around Roman and pulling him in close and kissing him deeply.  Junior lost track of time quickly enough, and then the two of them were pulling away.    
  
Roman slipped away from Junior and off to the bedroom without a word, and Junior was left feeling deeply confused by the whole thing. But soon Roman was at the door and looking out at Junior.    
  
“I uh…” Roman hesitated. “I figure you’re going to want the bed tonight?”

Junior swallowed. “If you don’t mind-”    
  
“Look, just…” Roman paused. “If you aren’t comfortable with anything else tonight, I’ll leave you alone. It’s getting late anyways.”    
  
Junior blinked, a little bit unsure about Roman’s change in demeanor. It was rare to see Roman act like this, but it seemed like it was what Roman needed too. He nodded. “Bed sounds good.”    
  
“You wanna cuddle or-”   
  
Junior paused. “It’s your bed. If you want to cuddle that’s fine.” Another pause. “Besides, it’s not like it's anything we haven’t done before.”    
  
Roman smiled and stepped out of the way of the door to give Junior a pathway. Junior swallowed and lifted up his bag before he disappeared into the bedroom behind Roman and the two of them settled in to sleep for the night.


	31. Comforts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and Roman spend their first morning alone together.

Roman was awoken by the sounds of birds singing. 

Mostly, he tried to pay them no mind. 

He didn't open his eyes for a long time because he didn't need to. All that he needed was to be wrapped up in warmth as he was, with warm blankets covering him and Junior's soft body pressed against his.

It was too comfortable, and there was absolutely nothing that Roman wanted to do less than break himself out of that comfort, and so he was making it his life mission not to show that he was awake.

At his side, Junior shifted slightly and Roman couldn't help to let out a quiet groan as his comfort was interrupted. He squeezed his eyes shut and nuzzled into the warmth beside him, feeling fairly certain that he was snuggling into Junior's shoulder.

"Ro?" Junior asked, his voice all cracked and hoarse from sleep. "What?"

"Don't move." Roman mumbled, hoping that it would be enough to dissuade Junior from moving around and taking away any of the warmth and comfort that had built up around him.

"I gotta…" Junior tried to speak up, but Roman did his best to shush him by just wrapping his body up around Junior's even more than he already was. It was easy for him to just go ahead and drape his arms around Junior's neck and shift so that his and Junior's legs were wrapped up together.

Roman heard Junior let out a sound that almost sounded like a frustrated sigh, and then cracked a green eye open so that he could look up at Junior's face.

Junior's face was flushed, and he looked like he hadn't quite gotten a good chance to wake up just yet.

Roman almost felt bad for him.

"You gotta?"

"Please let me get up." Junior said, deciding that it was better for him not to answer Roman's question and instead just hope that Roman would get the message about what was going on and just let him go.

Roman stared into Junior's eyes for a second as he looked for something. It wasn't long before he decided to relent. He slowly untangled himself from Junior's body and then flopped down into the space that Junior left behind as the man got up.

Junior stepped out of the room, and Roman just wrapped the blankets around himself even more so that he couldn't end up getting cold or anything like that. He closed his eyes for a moment and snuggled down into Junior's pillow.

It was warm, and it had a certain musk to it that was very distinctly Junior. Roman inhaled deeply and let out a soft sigh as he sank further and further into what was left of Junior's warmth.

He didn't want to get up. Not now, not ever. This was too right.

For a while Roman laid there, and only opened his eyes when Junior came back into the room. He picked his head up and gave Junior a quick look up and down and blinked.

"Hey, baby bear." He mumbled, knowing that he probably sounded entirely too content to be there at the moment. The good thing was that Roman just didn't care either way. "Come back to bed."

"I'm coming." Junior said as he got close to the edge of the bed. He reached out for the blankets and peeled them back. Roman wriggled out of the way and then Junior laid back down. Almost as soon as Junior was settled in, Roman curled himself in against Junior again.

"Are you comfortable?" Junior chuckled as Roman rested his head against Junior's chest. "Is there any reason for this?"

"I'm  _ very _ comfortable." Roman smiled through the words as he settled in further against Junior's body. "And I just like you. I hope you don't mind that."

Junior swallowed visibly, and Roman had to wonder for a moment whether he was making the big guy uncomfortable or not. Making Junior feel uncomfortable had to be at the very bottom of the list of things that he wanted to do.

"I don't mind it." Junior said, quietly. "Just wasn't sure why you were being so clingy."

Roman hummed contentedly, knowing that he was probably going to have to get up sometime soon anyways. Once Junior was sick of being in bed, then that was going to be the end of it. "I'm mostly just happy to be here, big guy." Roman said the words quietly into Junior's chest. He closed his eyes and paid attention to the soft rise and fall of Junior's chest.

If he listened hard enough he was sure he would be able to hear Junior's heartbeat as well.

"So what are we going to be doing today?" Junior asked, shifting slightly and earning a whine from Roman over the comfort of the situation being interrupted. "Should we get up and think about food, or..."

Roman groaned, knowing that food was probably something that he and Junior should probably start thinking about sooner than later. And even then, just because Roman didn't have to be in for work, that didn't mean that Junior wasn't expected at the gym that day to make sure that things were going well.

Come to think of it...

For the first time that morning Roman actually forced himself to sit up, and Junior was quick to sit up as well, though he mostly rested back against the headboard. A quick glance over at the alarm clock on his end table was more than enough to tell Roman that if either of them had to work, they probably should have been at their respective workplace an hour or two ago.

Considering how things at Xiong’s went, Junior would probably be several hours late.

"Food sounds good," Roman started before looking back over at Junior over his shoulder. "But I need to know whether you need to be at the gym or not?"

Junior's mouth dropped open a little bit, and then the large man let out a heavy groan. That was more than enough to tell Roman that in all likelihood they should be getting out of the apartment for the day sometime soon.

"Should I take that as a yes?"

Junior nodded and raised a large hand to push his hair back out of his face. "I should probably head in to see how things are doing, yeah." He confirmed with a quiet sound. "Besides, with the tournament getting closer it’s probably for the best that I'm there to whip Raven, Tai, and Peter into shape before things get going."

"Right." Roman said, resisting the want to chew on his lower lip for a second. "So, food and then I'll get you out to the gym?"

Regardless of what Junior ended up saying, Roman figured that the absolute least that he could do was make the offer. Besides, it wasn't exactly late in the day yet. The odds that the gym was swamped at the moment were pretty low.

"Food sounds good." Junior finally said, shifting so that he could get out of bed. "But I don't know-"

"I'll handle it, Junior." Roman said, smiling. "I hope you don't mind delivery. I know a good place."

Junior just blinked at him, and it left Roman feeling a little bit awkward. He shifted where he was standing and pushed his orange hair back out of his face, and oh, that was going to need to be styled sometime that morning. "Should I just point you to the shower instead?" Roman offered, hoping that he would be able to get a bit more of a reaction that way.

"Yeah." Junior said, shrugging. "Shower sounds good."

Roman swallowed, feeling a little bit too awkward before just gesturing to the door that would bring Junior out of the room and over towards where the shower was instead. Junior just responded by picking up his bag, hoisting it onto one of those broad shoulders, and walking out of the room.

That left Roman to his own devices, at least for now. He just took a moment to think, and he had to fight himself to make sure that he didn't start thinking too closely about the fact that Junior was barely a room away from him and completely nude.

Food.

Food was what he needed to think about, Roman told himself as he retrieved his phone and took a quick walk out to his kitchen. He didn't tend to keep a lot of stuff in the cupboards to eat, but he did have a list of delivery places that he could use.

Roman pulled down the list of delivery places and flipped it over in his hand as he looked for the one that actually did breakfast deliveries. Finding it, he had to take a second to pause as he thought over what sorts of things Junior would probably actually like to eat.

The sound of the shower still running across the apartment told Roman that it wasn’t exactly a good time for him to just go ahead and ask Junior about it. Roman leaned against the counter as he thought it over. He was pretty sure that he had a copy of the place’s menu somewhere in the kitchen, he’d just have to find it.

He pushed his hair back and out of the way as he scanned the room with his eyes to try and find the menu. In all likelihood, he’d probably ended up scribbling a note on the back of it and then threw it out when he realized that he didn’t need the note anymore.

But the place had breakfast food, and pretty much every type that he could think of. Part of Roman told him that he should just order his usual- which was a light pancake with scrambled egg whites and fruit, and that he should order the works pancakes for Junior. Sausage, bacon, eggs, toast even.

That all seemed like stuff that Junior would like…

Roman was about to go ahead and dial the number when he heard the sound of the shower clicking off. He sighed and set his phone down on top of the sheet of phone numbers that was labelled “emergency contacts” in Summer’s curling scrawl.

If Junior was going to be getting out of the shower anyways, there wasn’t really any point in him just going ahead and hoping that he ordered something that Junior wouldn’t mind eating too much.

In the end, all that he managed to bring himself to do was to start a pot of coffee so that he could at least wake himself up. With that done, Roman didn’t really have much of anything else for him to do, and so he decided that the best thing he could do was just wait for Junior to make another appearance.

The coffee was almost ready when that finally happened. Junior came into the living room in a fresh set of clothes with his hair still clearly messy and wet as a result of his shower- Roman definitely wasn’t one to mind that. Junior looked good having just gotten out of a shower. It was in the way that his hair flopped down into his face slightly, and the slight flush in his features left behind by the steam.

“Hey.” Roman greeted his friend as he looked up from his phone. “All good?”

“Yeah.” Junior answered as he joined Roman in the kitchen. “You didn’t tell me that your shower would be so nice.”

Roman almost wanted to raise an eyebrow at that, but the few times that he’d been over to James and Junior’s home were more than enough to suggest that they might not have the absolute best as far as household plumbing and appliances went. He’d never used the shower there, so Roman couldn’t quite say for sure, but he could definitely go ahead and speculate on the issue.

“I figured you wouldn’t mind the surprise.” Roman said as he looked over at the spot where he’d set down the list of phone numbers. “What do you want for breakfast?” He began, letting his eyes flick over to Junior, who had decided to lean against a wall. “I was going to make an order but then I realized that I didn’t know what you would want.”

Roman shrugged slightly and turned to get down two empty coffee mugs. “I was going to see about pancakes with a lot of meat and eggs, but figured I should wait.”

Junior’s mouth dropped open a little bit in some surprise, and it seemed like he was looking for a  quick way to answer Roman’s question but he was unable to find one. Not that Roman could really go ahead and blame the guy for it, he probably hadn’t been expecting this sort of question as soon as he got out of the shower.

“I like pancakes.” Junior finally answered. “With sausage. And uh… I like my eggs over hard.”

Roman blinked and nodded, figuring that Junior's answer was going to be more than enough for him to be able to make a proper order based off of. He picked up the phone and dialed the number for the restaurant and just took the moment to politely step out of the room when he ordered.

The total price for the food wasn't great, but the issue of payment was something that was going to have to be talked over between him and Junior anyways. Roman was fine with going ahead to pay himself, but he also didn't want to end up making Junior feel awkward with the whole thing.

Especially when Junior's business needed any money that it could get at the moment.

But Roman tried to brush that off before he decided to slink back into the kitchen where Junior was waiting, as well as a fresh pot of coffee that was probably going to act as both of their fuel for that morning until food arrived.

"It'll be here in half an hour or so." Roman announced as he walked to the cabinets and opened them up. He stepped up onto the tips of his toes and grabbed down a pair of mugs before looking back at Junior over his shoulder. "How do you like your coffee?"

Junior's mouth dropped open a little bit at that question, like he hadn't been expecting it all despite the fact that there had already been coffee brewing. "I uh... A little cream is good?"

Roman just put on that same smile that he always did and winked at Junior before pouring two cups of coffee and preparing them one at a time- Junior told him when he'd poured enough cream into his.

As for Roman's, he went for a peppermint and chocolate based creamer.

With mugs of coffee, the two of them retired to the living room so that they could wait for the food to arrive.

Junior was the first to sip his coffee. "It's good." He said, smiling up at Roman for a way that almost made Roman want to just go ahead and fall apart. He looked too sweet to be there in Roman's apartment.

If Roman hadn't known better, he never would have thought that this kind man was a boxer. He was more like a gigantic teddy bear than he was a fighter, and that seemed to apply even on bad days for Junior.

Roman liked that about him especially, that constant gentless.

"I'm glad." Roman said as he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back into the couch next to Junior. "Are you sure that you're going to have work today?" It wasn't much of a question, and Roman was fairly certain that he knew the answer, but he figured it didn't hurt to check.

"I didn't have any messages from Jim to say otherwise." Junior said matter-of-factly. He set his mug of coffee down onto the table in front of the two of them and sighed. "I mostly just hope that he managed to open without any problems."

Roman hummed quietly, savoring the warmth of the mug of coffee in his hands. "If you want, I can come in and help out any way that you need around there."

"Wouldn't that be-"

"Inappropriate?" Roman cut Junior off, knowing fully well what he was saying with that statement. "Nah, I don't think so. If anyone asks we got caught up in a late business meeting."

Junior looked away from Roman for a moment with a look in his eyes that screamed that there was something that he knew that Roman didn't. It almost left Roman feeling a little bit hurt to realize that, but he also didn't want to go ahead and do anything that would upset the other man.

"Right." Junior picked that head of his up and put on a weak smile. "A late business meeting."

Roman knew that he did things that he shouldn't have. He knew that he shouldn't have gone ahead and visibly pursed his lips, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help the feeling that there was something important that he just didn't know.

But Junior didn't seem to notice his reaction. Instead, he was engrossed with his cup of coffee and talking about what he was going to be doing that day at the gym. Training Taiyang, working with Raven and Peter, and teaching some classes. 

It definitely wasn't the most interesting stuff that Roman had ever heard, but he also knew for a fact that it was all stuff that Junior tended to get excited over. Usually, Roman tended to forget that some people actually liked their jobs and took great pride in them.

And Junior was always able to remind him of that fact, somehow.

When the time finally came that the food arrived, Roman went down to the front door of the building so that he could make the pickup, and then he was on his way back up to the apartment so that he and Junior could eat. He hoped that the two of them would be able to enjoy themselves as easily as they had been already, but it was a matter of making things happen now.

As expected, Junior was on the couch when Roman came back inside, and Junior was leaned back and talking to someone on the phone. Roman was fairly sure that if he wanted to, he could definitely go ahead and figure out exactly who it was that Junior was talking to.

By the tone in Junior's voice, he was talking to James.

Junior's eyes flicked over to Roman for a moment and then he was telling whoever was on the other end of that phone that he had to go.

Roman just didn't bother to say anything to Junior and set the brown paper bag of food down on the coffee table that was in front of the couch before sliding in next to Junior. He opened it up and reached in to find Junior's box of food first before removing his own.

Finally Junior hung up his phone and then he looked over at Roman. "Hey."

"Hey." Roman greeted Junior back. "Everything good?"

"Yeah," Junior started, "James just wanted to know if-  _ when _ I was going to be in."

"Is he okay?"

Junior just shrugged, knowing that there wasn't really going to be any easy way to answer that question. He reached out for his box of food and then shot Roman a gentle smile. "So we'll be heading to the gym once food is done?"

_ We. _

For some reason that word alone was able to warm Roman's chest almost completely and make him want to curl back in against Junior again because he'd been so comfortable earlier. Junior was content, and talking like that implied that Junior wanted for the two of them to be a 'we.'

At least, that was how he was going to be reading into it. Whether that was Junior's intent or just him trying to state facts was hard for Roman to piece together.

"Yeah." Roman said as he stood up so that he could take the quick walk over to the kitchen so that he could grab some silverware that the two of them would be able to use for their breakfasts. "Do you need to swing by your place to pick up any gear or-"

"I usually have some leftover at the gym." Junior called back to Roman. "We'll just have to make the drive over to the gym and then you can go anytime that you want."

Those words were more than enough to make Roman pause as he was on his way back into the living room where Junior was rifling through the bag in search of napkins. "Yeah," Roman said, forcing a smile before stepping in finally and seating himself next to Junior again. "Of course."

"Roman?"

"Yeah?"

"Is something... wrong?"

Those words were enough to make Roman feel like his heart had completely stopped in his chest. Junior was picking up on the awkwardness and Roman wasn't so sure that he was going to be able to deflect that away from himself so easily.

"Nah," Roman started, deciding that the best way for him to deal with this was going to be for him to just sink into his normal enthusiastic, outgoing personality. He wished that he had his makeup on so that he could at least hide behind that, but he was going to have to live with it. "I was just getting caught up in my own thoughts a bit."

Junior nodded and took a fork from Roman, and then that was it.

"Alright." Junior answered. He hesitated a moment before he stabbed into his food, and then he spoke up again. "I know that what I do at work isn't that interesting, I'm sorry about that."

"I can assure you, Junior, it is perfectly fine." Roman replied, deciding that the least that he could do was start picking away at his own meal. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence until the food was gone and then Junior and Roman were on their ways to Xiong's so that Junior could at least start doing his job.


	32. A Rough Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior goes to the gym to find a little more work than he'd originally anticipated.

Junior was the first to climb out of Roman's car before he started on the way towards the gym. Roman had told him to go on ahead, and Junior couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was _probably_ something wrong. Something that Roman didn't want to tell him.

There had been enough awkwardness the night before that he was left with a lot of worries about their date. Junior didn’t quite know what to make of _anything_ at the moment. But what was going on with Roman wasn't his biggest concern- no, that honor belonged to the running of the gym itself.

The front door had been left open, and when Junior stepped in, he saw that James was standing at ringside and leaning against his cane as he talked Taiyang through something.

Junior was almost instantly struck with guilt that he had to force down, if only because he didn’t want to show it.

"Hey." Junior decided to speak up as he stepped further into the room. "Everything alright?"

James looked over at him with those tired eyes of his and then sighed. "Just trying to get things set up before..." James' eyes flicked back to the office and he let out a quiet sigh. "It doesn't matter. I'm just trying to make sure that everything is ready."

Junior shifted slightly and looked down at the box of leftover food that he'd brought along with him. He'd taken it to work with him because at the very least it was going to something that he could go ahead and use for lunch. But now that he thought about things, he wasn't sure that he wanted it.

He offered James the box. "I can finish setting up, if you want-"

James hesitated a moment and let out a sigh before taking the box and hobbling to the office in the back where the door swung shut behind him. Junior looked up at Taiyang, who was trying to hang a punching bag.

Not enough time passed before Junior could bring himself to say something to Taiyang about what was going on before Roman was coming in with his work bag slung over his shoulder. Junior watched as he was about to make his way to the back office but raised a hand to flag Roman over in his direction instead.

Roman noticed and made his way over to Junior. "What's wrong, baby bear?"

There was a loud thud as Taiyang dropped the bag that he was carrying. A laugh escaped the blonde's lips, and Junior was about to say something but then he couldn't think of anything as his mind went blank at the horrified realization that Taiyang was laughing _at_ them.

"You let him call you _baby bear?_ " Taiyang snickered. "Junior, that's-"'

Roman shot Taiyang a look that looked a lot more menacing than Junior would have ever expected to see from the man. It was the narrowed eyes and the way that Roman tilted his head _just so_. Junior had never thought that he'd see Roman actually put on any sort of intimidating persona, but here it was.

Taiyang quieted almost instantly. He clamped his mouth shut and just turned to pick the punching bag that he'd been carrying back up. That taken care of, Junior looked back over at Roman and then let his eyes flick back to the office.

"You can go and ask if you can use the office, but don't expect anything." Junior said, keeping his volume low. He wanted to thank Roman for helping in regards to Taiyang, but bit it back. It was something to bring up at another time.

Roman's brow furrowed and he tilted his head, confusion reading clear on the orange haired man's face over what Junior had just said. Junior couldn't pretend as though he didn't expect that at all and just sighed, gesturing down towards his leg and hoping that Roman would understand. The pure look of dawning realization that crossed Roman's face was more than enough to tell Junior that he got it.

Junior sighed and looked over at Tai. His eyes flicked over to Roman, who had gone to the office and knocked on the door and seemed to be quietly talking to James through it for a moment before disappearing inside and closing the door behind him.

It was surprising to see, but Junior couldn't exactly go claiming that he hadn't been worried. Normally James wouldn't be caught dead at the gym on a day like this one, but today-

Well, he figured he hadn't left James with many options that morning. He’d have to make a point to make James dinner sometime or something to make up for it.

Taiyang smiled at Junior and looked over at the bag that he'd been carrying. "Everything good, boss?"

Slowly, Junior forced himself to nod. "Just things going on." He said, keeping his voice low before going to Taiyang and helping with the heavy bag. He was going to end up doing the heavy lifting while Taiyang got the rig together that they needed, and then that would be the end of the issue.

It only took a few minutes for them to get the bag hung properly. Taiyang didn't go straight for the ring quite yet, instead deciding to take a seat at one of the benches that were near the ring and sitting down so that he could get his shoes tied properly. "Hey, so, Junior?" Taiyang called, catching his attention.

"Yes, Tai?" Junior answered as he slid the stairs that led up to the ring into their usual position.

Taiyang looked up from the shoe that he'd been tying and locked his blue eyes with Junior's before smiling. "You know how we have the tournament coming up?"

"I do." Junior said, raising an eyebrow as he tried to figure out exactly where Taiyang was trying to steer this conversation. Normally, Junior wouldn't have worried about this sort of thing, but if Taiyang came to him with a problem on his mind, then it meant that all that Junior could do was listen.

Taiyang finished tying his shoe and leaned back against the bench slightly. "I was just..." He shook his head and his mouth dropped open just a tiny bit. "I was just worried about it, I guess."

That _was_ concerning, Junior thought to himself. He brushed his hands off on his pants and then decided to take up the rest of the space that was on the bench that the blond boxer had decided to use so that they two of them could talk before anyone else got in for the day. "What are you worried about?"

"It's just-" Taiyang ran a hand through that blonde hair of his, and some of his locks flipped out of the way with the motion only to fall back into the same places as before, seeming equally as messy. "Do you really think that I can do this? Raven can do everything in the ring perfectly, and Port's small but he can hit hard, I-"

"Tai, we wanted you to do this for a reason." Junior cut his friend off. "You are pretty strong, and you're decently fast. James is confident that you're going to be the one that brings home trophies for Xiong's, you know that?"

"He...."

" _Yeah._ " Junior confirmed before Taiyang could get going again. "He does. And so do I." He paused for a moment as a new question began to nag at the back of his mind. There were a lot of questions that he could have gone ahead and ask, but one stood out above all of the others.

"Tai, what's bringing this on?" Junior kept his voice low and leaned against the side of the ring.

Tai let out a sigh. "We just... Raven and I had Qrow over last night and it was..." He shook his head and raised a hand to scratch at the emerging stubble along his jawline. "It was just _awkward_. He said some things and-"

Of course.

Junior hadn't known about Qrow showing up to spend time with Raven, but at the same time he couldn't go pretending that he was surprised by any of what he'd just heard. It was just a matter of getting Taiyang to calm down and get his confidence under him.

"Tai, you know that Qrow likes to get into people's heads." Junior offered, though he kept his voice as quiet as he could. "He knows that you and him are probably going to end up fighting each other at some point. If he can get into your head, it means he can beat you. Don't let him do that."

Taiyang shook his head. "He's just such an ass."

"He is." Junior answered, hoping that he would be able to give Qrow some proper support this way, though he doubted how far it was going to carry him. "Just remember that he's trying to play with you. He did it when we all went out for food too, and you weren’t the only one he was bothering that night"

Tai was quiet, Junior was worried.

"He’s just said a lot of things, you know?"

"Things you don't want to repeat?"

“Nah, just typical Qrow stuff.” Taiyang shook his head, and that was how Junior knew that it was true. He wouldn't be surprised if Qrow had decided to make fun of Taiyang's closeness with Raven all in hopes that it would get under the blond's skin.

That wasn't really acceptable, but it was a way for Qrow to get what he wanted, and since what he always had wanted was his opponents off of their A game, that wasn't surprising at all to Junior.

"Do you think boxing could make you feel better?" Junior kept his volume low as he posed the question to Taiyang. Whether the answer ended up being a yes or a no was going to be hard to say, but the least that Junior could do was go ahead and offer Taiyang a way to deal with how upset he was feeling at the moment.

"Maybe?" Taiyang answered as he finished double-knotting his left shoe before standing up properly. "Maybe if it's against a human opponent?"

"Do you want me to?" Junior offered. It was the least that he could do. "Just until someone else shows up, of course."

"Raven's not coming in today, and James isn't exactly..." Taiyang's eyes flicked over to the office door, and Junior didn't need to ask about whatever it was that was going unsaid. Everyone knew. "Maybe until Peter shows up?"

Junior nodded, taking that as the confirmation that he was going to be helping Taiyang.

Junior took a moment to get his shoes in order before getting up himself and stretching slightly. If he was going to be boxing against Taiyang and his friend was feeling even slightly upset, it meant that Junior was going to have to be more than ready for an attempted beating. That was something that he could usually expect, and while he generally didn't enjoy being on the receiving end of _anyone's_ anger, he needed to be there for his friend.

Once he was ready, he got up and slipped into the office so that he could get his own set of gloves and a water bottle before he finally went into the ring against Taiyang.

Junior closed the door as quietly as he could, and when he stepped in he was surprised by what he found.

James and Roman had commandeered the desk, with James sitting back more comfortably and using a clipboard so that he wouldn't have to strain himself, and Roman leaning forward and writing down things excitedly as he talked about something that James didn't seem to be interested in at all.

When the door closed behind Junior they both snapped their heads up so that they could stare him down almost immediately.

Junior raised his hands up in front of him, just to show that he wasn't a threat of any sort.

"Just here to get some things." Junior said quietly as he stepped behind the desk to where James was sitting. He opened up the small fridge that was underneath and reached into it, finding a plastic bottle of water or two. He set them up on the desktop and stood up properly before closing the fridge door.

"Is everything alright?" James asked, his voice being kept low. "Tai seemed upset but..."

"I'm helping him through it." Junior found his gloves and tucked them under his elbow so that he couldn't end up dropping them. "Just Qrow got into his head."

James sighed heavily and nodded. "Of course." He said, quietly. Bitterly.

Junior didn't miss the heaviness in James' voice for a second, or the way that James' expression changed slightly to show something that was indistinguishable. But James was quick to banish it, reaching for a pen behind him so that nobody would notice that anything wasn't quite right at the moment.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't seen James do this sort of thing so many times before. If Junior hadn't been so used to James' habits of avoidance then maybe it wouldn't have been so worrying.

It left Junior feeling like he wanted to bite at his lower lip, only for a moment's worth of comfort. But the least that he could do was offer what distractions he could. "I think he'll be fine." Junior said as he picked up the two bottles of water. "I figure we'll try to work it out of Tai's system and then that should be the end of the issue, but if Qrow gets back under his..."

He heard another heavy sigh from James, and this time when he spoke out he sounded as though he had somehow managed to divorce himself away from any emotional side of the situation. It was as though all that James could think to do.

"If Qrow gets to be a pain again, I'll deal with it." James said, his voice painfully clear. Determined, even.

Junior nodded and went to the door. He caught the way that Roman looked between James and him like he had something that he wanted to say, but Junior did his best to ignore it in favor of just moving on. He had Taiyang waiting on him, and if there was anything that Roman wanted to know, there was a slight chance that James would be willing to explain things.

It was slight, but it was still a chance.

Junior exited the office and closed the door behind him to see that Tai was in the ring, just stretching and getting ready for whatever was going to come next. Junior walked up to the edge of the ring and placed the two bottles of water that he'd collected next to one of the turnstiles at the edge.

With that done, Junior took the stairs up into the ring to join the frustrated looking Taiyang.

He took a moment to slip on his boxing gloves and then gave Taiyang a quick look up and down. He didn't want to draw this out any longer than he felt he had to, and so Junior spoke up in hopes of giving Taiyang an outlet to deal with his anger.

"Are you ready?" Junior asked, keeping his voice as soft as he could.

Taiyang's cheeks puffed out as he exhaled heavily, but Taiyang nodded and even let a slight smile begin to form on his face. He brought his hands up in front of him and then slid one foot back so that he was in a proper fighting stance.

Junior mirrored Taiyang's motions, figuring that it was for the best that Taiyang be left to take control and lead for a bit. He couldn't promise that Taiyang would get that same luxury when he was in the middle of the ring for a tournament, but for now Junior could at least give Tai the chance to calm down and relax at his own pace as opposed to things being forced.

"Yeah!" Taiyang finally exclaimed, bouncing from one foot to the other. Junior looked him up and down as quickly as he could manage so that he could figure out how Taiyang was going to come at him and then he stepped forward towards the middle of the ring.

Tai followed and put his hands out into the center. Junior bumped his gloves against Taiyang's- a formality of sorts, and then he stepped away.

They each gave themselves three seconds before either of them moved.

Taiyang was the first out of his corner, and while Junior knew that his best move would be to just try and pin Taiyang into a corner and beat him out that way, Junior decided that it was best to see whatever it was that Taiyang wanted to do.

The blonde advanced on Junior with his fists raised, and Junior kept his hands raised to mirror, but it was always lower.

Tai threw the first jab at Junior's chest, and Junior was quick to block it with one of his raised hands.

The blow was strong, and Junior did find himself getting his hand knocked back a little bit, but that was something that he could manage. He smiled a bit and stepped back from Taiyang, who was quick to follow up on his first strike with a second one that was directed at Junior's ribs.

Junior brought one arm down in hopes of protecting himself, and when Taiyang's fist hit his elbow, it definitely stung.

He stepped in towards Taiyang and threw a punch of his own, deciding to focus on the blond's shoulder instead of anywhere else because he didn't want to risk giving his friend a concussion with the tournament so close.

Taiyang took the hit, and retaliated with a fast jab at Junior's chest before he could recover. The strike was definitely hard, and it made Junior actually have to take a step back and bring his arms up.

When he caught Taiyang's eyes, he couldn't quite figure out what was going on in the other man's head. He didn't know whether Taiyang had blocked everything else out and had decided that he was going to replace Junior with Qrow in his mind for the moment. Whether or not Taiyang was trying to get something happening that had never quite happened before.

Junior wished that he knew.

He stepped back a bit further, and Tai's only response was to bounce back forward so that he was in striking range of Junior. Taiyang threw another set of punches at Junior, some focusing high while others went low, all for the sake of making himself harder to stop.

And Junior did his best- he blocked some and willingly took others, and once he figured that Taiyang had dropped his guard enough, Junior threw a punch of his own.

He managed to hit Taiyang square in the ribs, and knocked the blonde back a little bit because of the hit. Taiyang looked like he grit his teeth and redoubled on his efforts so that he could get something done against Junior. So that he could win their mock battle.

The two of them went for several minutes, exchanging blows. When the two pulled away for a break, Junior stopped and grabbed the two bottles of water that he'd taken out of the office for himself and Taiyang.

Tai was breathing heavy, and his face had gone flushed at some point in their practice fight. He leaned back against the ropes, and all of the fury that he'd been wearing earlier was seeming like it was finally able to fade away until the normal, happy Taiyang that Junior knew was all that was there.

He looked up at Junior with those bright blue eyes and laughed. "You get that for me?"

"Yeah." Junior chuckled, offering the first of the two bottles to Taiyang. "You should drink some, it'll help."

Tai nodded and stood up properly as he took the bottle. He needed to fidget for a moment as he slipped out of his gloves with some amount of difficulty.

One by one, the gloves fell down onto the canvas and then Taiyang was opening his bottle of water. He took the first sip from it and then looked up at Junior. "So," he started. "How'd I do?"

"Good." Junior responded. "You've gotten faster, you know that?"

"I have?"

Junior nodded and hummed quietly. "It's a sign that you're getting good enough that you can just go out and fight. You aren't as fast as Qrow is-" Junior caught the way that Taiyang's expression turned to bitterness. "-But that isn't a bad thing. You've probably got him beat on overall power, and so I'm confident that you can at least beat him."

Taiyang nodded, his brows knit together in some frustration, like he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. Junior figured that Taiyang was just trying to figure out things that he could do to improve his ability as a boxer.

When it came to the tournament, Junior almost expected that Taiyang was going to put beating Qrow at a priority- no matter how far into the tournament he'd have to go to do it.

"You think I can beat him?"

"I know you can beat him."

The blond nodded slowly and took another sip from his bottle of water. "What do I need to work on?"

"For him?" Junior asked. "Your blocking, but you've gotten a lot better already."

Taiyang blinked and let out a quiet sound that sounded almost like relief. Junior picked up a hand and set it down on Taiyang's shoulder just to offer a slight physical comfort that it wouldn't have been a big deal for Taiyang to turn down.

The least that Junior could do was offer the comfort.

"So you really think that I can do this?" Taiyang finally asked, his voice mostly quiet.

"There's a lot of people that believe that you can do it." Junior replied, deciding that it was the best to match his tone with Tai's. "If you want to keep on training right now, we can, but I'm not going to force it." Pause. "I'm sure that you probably want to wait for one of your more regular sparring partners to show up."

That earned a quiet laugh from Tai, who just waved Junior's concerns away with one hand. "Nah, I think I'll be good." He paused too, though when it came from Taiyang it somehow felt a lot heavier to Junior. Like it carried more meaning than a pause from Roman, or Peter, or most others would. Some people packed everything that they did with meaning.

Taiyang didn't tend to be one of those people.

Finally, Taiyang spoke back up. "I think I just needed to work some stuff out of my system."

"Just don't let him get into your head." Junior said, keeping his voice as even as he could manage for Taiyang. "It's how he works. If you don't give him to mental game then-"

"Then he can't win the physical one." Taiyang finished before picking his head up and smiling over at Junior. "I get it." He shifted slightly, like he wanted to get up and spar again, but didn't move. "Thanks for everything, Junior."

Taiyang took a final sip from the bottle that he'd been given and capped it once again before depositing it on one of the corners of the ring. Junior raised an eyebrow and nodded, understanding what was being requested of him before he decided to mimic Taiyang's motions.

He ended up just taking his time before he slipped back into his gloves. Taiyang wasn't taking his time, but Junior mostly figured that it was because he wanted to get as much training in that day as possible before he had to go off and do whatever it was that he did for work.

Taiyang slid down into his fighting stance, and once he was ready, Junior mimicked the mission. He smiled across the table at Tai and then that was it.

Taiyang rushed Junior.

Junior raised his hands so that he could deal with whatever was going to be coming his way.


	33. Converse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a pleasant conversation over work

"So you're going to need to explain this to me."

"Yes?"

Roman looked across the desk that was placed between himself and James to see that the other man was diligently working away at something. Whatever it was, it seemed important, and James didn’t look like he was going to look up for anything. While Roman was also doing important work, there were a lot of questions that were bouncing around in the back of his head that he wanted answered.

He leaned back in his seat- one of the few more comfortable chairs that were in that room. The fact that it was just himself and James meant that the office was just a bit nicer to be in. 

"I just don't really get why you would have wanted to come in for work today." Roman explained himself, though he knew it probably wasn't going to be enough. Even if it was, James probably wasn’t going to give an honest question. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t going to try. "If you wanted you could have called in and told Junior that you weren't feeling up to work..."

That caught James' attention. His eyes flicked up to meet Roman's and for the first time Roman realized that James' eyes were impossibly blue. Impossibly intense, with a thousand feelings bound up in them that never seemed to be allowed out.

For what reason, Roman was sure he was never going to know.

Those blue eyes narrowed and James let out a quiet sound as he set down the pen that he'd been using. It looked like he was finishing off a letter to someone, along with some bills. "I had paperwork to do." James deadpanned, keeping his voice even. "And I wasn't going to let the business fail just because I decided that I wasn’t coming in over a little pain."

Roman raised an eyebrow, a little bit unsure of what he was supposed to make of what James had said. It sounded like he was carrying a bit more stress than he should have been, Roman realized. Like maybe he was putting too much pressure onto himself for his own good.

But James didn't seem to do much. He didn't move to distract Roman away from what was going on or say much to the other man- he just seemed to be mostly occupied with his own work. Roman tried to refocus on what he'd brought with him to work on, looking back down at his laptop as he went from sheet of numbers to sheet of numbers in search of expenses that could be cut.

It didn't help him clear his head, though.

In the end, Roman found himself mostly just distracted by how uncomfortable the atmosphere in that office had become.

Finally, he decided to speak up again, if only because he was hoping that he would be able to lighten things. At the very least, he could try and get James to start sounding and acting like a normal person again.

"Jim?" He asked, keeping his voice low. He let his eyes flick up and caught the way that James' body seemed to go rigid for a moment before James let out a breath that sounded like it had been being held for a while.

"What is it, Roman?" There wasn’t any possibility that Roman could have missed the annoyance on James’ voice when he spoke. 

Roman leaned in slightly towards the desk, hoping that he'd be able to find some sort of way to comfort himself and James as well and just ease some of the tension. "I was curious." He started, looking up at the clock instead of at James in the hopes that doing that was going to be enough to make things feel a little more comfortable. "You... you knew about what was going on with me and Junior last night, didn't you?"

Roman resisted the urge to bite his lower lip in hopes that he would be able to get his head away from all of the bad things that James could have possibly gone ahead and said to him in that moment. There were too many possibilities, and there wasn't really getting away from that.

James' brow raised, and he rolled his eyes for a second before looking back down at the business ledger in front of him so that he could continue his work. "I did know about it, yes." James finally said, though he kept his voice more quiet than Roman was used to hearing. "Is there a reason that you're asking about it?"

That answer hadn't been what Roman had been expecting. He'd partially expected that he was going to be talked down to on some level for the fact that he'd decided to bring the topic up. Roman was expecting to be told that he and Junior were seriously in the wrong for even considering to go out for their date.

But James was so  _ calm.  _ Bored, even.

"I just..." Roman tried to begin to explain himself to James, but he couldn't figure out what he meant to say. There were a thousand things that he could have gone ahead with for the approach on the topic, but none felt adequate. None would be enough should the conversation go downhill. "I just wanted to know if you knew."

"Of course I knew, Junior told me." James mumbled, keeping his volume low. Roman caught the way that James' gaze flicked up to the door, like he was trying to make sure that they weren't going to end up with any company anytime soon. "Why are you bringing it up?"

"You..." Roman started, weighing each word carefully. "You do realize that if..."

"I do realize that it's considered inappropriate, yes." James turned his attention back onto his paperwork, filling out a new section. "However, I've decided that the best thing that I can do is turn a blind eye to it."

"So you don't care?"

"That's..." James sighed. "Inaccurate."

"James?"

James sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat a little bit, though the motion was stilted and slow. Almost like he needed to work himself into it to be able to relax the way that he needed to. "I do care, Roman." James kept his voice quiet. "I care quite a bit, really."

Roman was about to open his mouth so that he could say something to James, but found himself being silenced by so much as a mere wave of James' gloved hand. Right then, Roman realized that this was a rare chance that he was getting to see James communicate with him without too much prodding. This was James just  _ being _ .

"Roman, I care a lot because he's my brother and..." James' voice trailed off slightly and Roman caught the way that James' gaze seemed to get all distant. Like he was afraid to keep himself in that room mentally, if only because of the potential for what could happen. Or maybe it was James just trying to protect himself and put up emotional barriers so that he couldn't get too bogged down in what he meant to say. "He's my brother, Roman." James repeated, whatever words had been about to leave his lips clearly dead on them instead.

Deep down, Roman knew that he'd probably find out exactly what else it was that James had wanted to or meant to say. He could guess that whatever it was, it was probably only more than a little self-deprecating and probably even bordering upon cruel. He didn’t want to pry too badly.

"By that logic, shouldn't you want me away from him?" Roman asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he decided to pull his gaze away from James so that he could focus on something else instead. He turned his eyes down to his work again. The two of them needed some sort of wall between them if they were going to be getting anything done. He paused, wondering if he should continue. Whether it was worth it to continue. "Shouldn't you want him to be off on his own so that you don't have anything to worry about when it comes to him?"

" Ijust want for Hei to be happy, Roman."

There it was again, that sort of overly measured way of speaking that James tended to sink into. But at the same time, it was so human that Roman almost couldn't believe that it was from James. The guy had always had a habit of making himself as intentionally distant from everyone around him as possible, but now that Roman was there hearing James talking about Junior in a fond way it was different.

Almost like that night when James had told him about the fact that his arm was metal. Almost like when Roman had gently clasped James' hand in his and run his fingers over James' fingertips and palms only to learn that there were gaps in sensation and things that were missing. It was James' vulnerability.

Now James was letting it go ahead and show again, albeit in a very different way.

"He's your brother, isn't he?" Roman responded to James, hoping that he would be able to get something out of the other man that way. Maybe this way he was going to be able to figure out a little bit about how James tended to tick. Maybe he would start to get context that James had intentionally hidden away from people for his entire life. "It makes sense to want him to be happy."

"It's..." James seemed to try to start only to force himself to stop talking again. Roman couldn't fathom why, aside from the fact that James was probably once again beginning to stray too close to showing his hand and letting people see just how emotional of a person he could really be. "It's not the same as how most people view their... siblings." James shifted slightly in his seat, and Roman saw James' hand ball into a fist out of the corner of his eye. There was a certain sort of hesitation that wound through James, seemingly taking over the man's entire body.

"Explain." Roman sat up properly now, realizing that the best way to get through to James on this might just be to be as direct as he could be and hope for the best.

James' eyes flashed up to him and then back down to the sheet of paper in front of him, where his military-neat print filled line after line on the form. Finally, James spoke.

"Hei and I have always had a... complicated relationship, to say the least." James began. "It got... bad. A few years ago, it got really bad, and it hasn't quite fixed itself since. He deserves to be happy after all of that."

Roman tilted his head slightly, feeling very much aware of the sudden gravity of the situation at hand. This was James, quiet, reserved, secretive James, and he was sounding like he was close to ready to actually open up to Roman about some of what was going on in his life.

There were a lot of things about the way that James was talking now that made Roman feel like he didn't quite know exactly what was going to end up happening in the short term.

It was the dropping of Junior's nickname, that hesitation, and that acknowledgement of the fact that there was clearly something that had happened and complicated things. Roman still didn't quite know what it meant, but...

His gaze drifted over to James' right hand, gloved as it rested in front of him.

Roman realized then that he had a feeling of what was actually going on, and that he was about to hear or learn things that he wasn't so sure that he wanted to.

He could go ahead and stop James, make the other man drop the topic and then Roman would be able to move on with his life without ever having had to hear anything sad about James.

But on the other hand...

Roman had a feeling that James needed the chance to talk to someone that was removed from whatever had happened. 

"What do you mean by that?" Roman finally brought himself to ask James.

James' body went all stiff and awkward, and James let out a sigh, and then he was talking, but it didn't feel... right. His words were too quiet, but they were also too deliberate. It almost felt like he was listening to some sort of lecture on James' part.

"When Hei's family took me in it became quickly apparent that they had two... children. One that was good- Hei, and one that was always going to be a problem child because he couldn't quite get his head straight." James swallowed visibly. "Hei was able to get away from that for the most part, and things were fine until we got to be teenagers. He chose to stick close to home, I decided that I needed  _ structure. _ "

"James?" Roman barely managed to get the word out as being above a whisper. Nothing fit quite right, but he couldn't just go ahead and leave James hanging at this point. He had to help.

"I joined the military." James explained himself. "Junior got to live his life here, helping at the gym and making it better. When I was home I would help out where I could, but I was always off on my own pretty quickly."

Roman's eyes went wide. He looked at the gloved hand, then back at James, and remembered the times that he'd been in James and Junior's apartment. The cane. The limping. The hesitation to have anyone around.

He suddenly had a feeling that he knew exactly where this was all going, and Roman also didn't want to hear any more.

"Did... that make you happy?" Roman asked. He thought back to when he was young and trying to figure things out- he'd found work bussing tables and washing dishes before he started to get into the inner workings at any of the bars in the city. It hadn't made him happy, but it had given him a chance to figure out who he was and what he actually wanted for the most part.

For everything that he had seen of James and Junior, he'd never quite been able to figure out why James would have stayed there other than having nowhere else to go. But now it looked like it was all making sense- the Xiong's had always given James something to fall back on, whether it was for better or for worse.

He’d needed them.

"No." James answered, shortly. "It didn't." He shook his head. "I was in line for promotions and great things, but that didn't get to last. Things happened and I lost..." James swallowed and he gestured mutely to his arm. "I lost..."

His eyes were blank.

Roman reached across and gently touched the tips of James' fingers with his own, if only for the purpose of dragging the other man back to earth for a little bit. "It's okay, James." He said. "You don't have to say any more if you don't want to."

James' body didn't seem to relax. All of the frustration and tension and anger that had seemed to have built up in him over the course of years seemed to be sticking to James' frame in ways that Roman could never consider pleasant.

When he heard the man before him suck in a ragged breath, Roman wondered whether or not that meant something. Whether it was a cue for him to leave, or a silent request for space, or something else. His deskmate turned in his seat so that he could face away from Roman and focused on a spot on the wall.

He had a feeling that what he'd said almost assuredly fallen on deaf ears.

But then James spoke. "The point isn't..." He started but his voice trailed off for a moment and Roman heard the general frustration in James' tone. "The point isn't about me. It's about Junior and  _ his _ family."

Roman could have sworn that he was able to hear James swallow a lump in his throat or anger- which it was Roman wasn't sure of.

"Roman, ever since they took me in, they have bent over backwards to accommodate me, even when they shouldn't have. And after that all happened it got worse." A pause. "They all did. Not just his parents, Junior did."

"And?"

"It's just time that he gets to be happy again." James finally managed to finish his statement. "And if that means that I have to turn a blind eye to things that I don't necessarily agree with or am wary of, I will."

For some reason, there was actual pang of guilt that Roman felt in his chest that was enough to leave him a little bit taken aback. He didn't know what it was, perhaps it was the blind eye comment that James had made. But at the same time, learning all of this brought on a certain sorrow.

It made him wonder what James had been silently dealing with behind everyone else's back. It also made Roman wonder how much extra stress Junior was under that nobody knew about either. He wanted to reach out and help...

But Roman didn't know how he was supposed to go ahead and do that. He didn't know what he could that would make this better, other than perhaps offer his friendship once in a great while. The question was just whether James would allow him to do that.

James had let him into this world, little bit after little bit, though. Maybe it wasn't such a lost cause.

"I don't think you're a burden or anything." Roman said quietly, hoping that it would be enough to give him a chance to get James to open up to him. "And the fact that you would be willing to do that for me and Junior-"

"Not for you." James corrected. "For Junior."

"Right." Pause. "For Junior." Roman crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his seat slightly so that he could get a better view of James' face, just for a little while. It was only so that he could get a good idea of what was going on in the other man's head. "I still mean it, James."

James sighed heavily in a way that said  _ 'I don't believe you’ _ without him ever having to utter a single syllable. Roman figured that wasn't something that he should have felt surprised by, considering everything that had happened with James that day. Finally, James spoke again, his voice quiet and almost cracked.

"Thank you." He finally said. James blinked his eyes quickly, two or three times and Roman quickly realized that there was a reason for it. He made a point not to go ahead and mention it to James just in case that he ended up making things worse. "It's..." James started and turned his face slightly so that he could see Roman out of the corner of his eye properly. "I haven't heard that many times over the last few years. Not from people who aren't..." Hesitation. "Family."

"He is your family." Roman said, feeling himself go a bit quieter than he should have otherwise. But at the same time, he knew that he and James had a lot in common. A lot more in common than anyone would ever want to have in common with each other. "Being taken in doesn't change that, I don't think."

Roman couldn't help but to feel just a little bit bitter about the conversation at hand. It was clear that James had a lot of hangups about family, and Roman felt the same way, but there was still that sense of bitterness.

He and James had both had a somewhat similar start, and he knew that, but James had gotten the chance to get out of it. Roman had never gotten out of the homes or out of the system. He'd just managed to go off on his own as a teenager and make a life for himself.

And he was happy that way.

James had everything that Roman had ever wanted, and yet he couldn’t be happy with it. Roman understood that he and James had different baggage, but Roman still couldn’t push back the hurt. 

James tilted his head slightly and let out a quiet noise that Roman couldn't quite decipher as having a meaning. "He's not my family though, Roman." James finally mumbled. "I was a burden that they took off the streets after I ran from the fifth home in the row. No matter what, that doesn't change. I want to feel like he's family, I just... can't. I don’t have it in me."

"There's no shame in that." Roman said quickly snapping James' attention over to him directly. "Look, he loves you. His mom loves you, and I'm guessing that his father did too."

"I suppose." James mumbled. His right hand balled into a fist, and Roman realized that he knew exactly what was wrong in James' head about all of this. He seemed to have a permanent complex about how someone could want him around, and on some level, Roman figured that he could relate to that.

At the end of the day, it seemed like he and James were both lonely. 

James' expression hardened, and he shook his head before looking back over at Roman. "I'm sorry to put any of this on you." Roman could see the way that James' jaw worked with tension. "The point is that I approve. As long as you're making him happy, I approve."

If he could have, if he knew that he would have had the permission to do so, Roman would have gotten up and crossed the room and just wrapped his arms around James in a hug. He was sure that if he tried he would end up being pushed away for it, but he wanted to. So Roman had to think of something else that he could say to James to make him feel better.

"I'm going to do my best for him, James." Roman finally said, quietly. "But don't go thinking that you have to make sacrifices for his sake."

"I don't-"

Roman had expected that. Some sort of protest on James' part. "I'm serious, James." He said again. "Just... tell someone if something is wrong."

Roman glanced up at the clock, he figured that it was about time for James and Junior's lunch break, and if it was, he figured that they weren't going to be allowed to leave the gym for it. He reached into his pocket and found his phone before looking up at James and smiling.

"Anything you want to eat?"

James' eyes went a little wide at that and his mouth dropped open a little bit. It closed again and James just nodded.

Roman smiled as he began to work through lunch plans for Xiong's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated!
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


	34. Reappearing Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow pays the gym a visit.

They'd ended up ordering sandwiches for everyone that had come in that day, and now Roman was crowded in the back office of the gym with Junior, Taiyang, and the still uncomfortable James, who had ordered food but had politely declined to eat then and there. Roman didn’t question it- he and James had shared a fairly intense conversation that morning.    
  
So now, Roman was sitting cross-legged in one of the chairs with his lunch in front of him, enjoying it quietly while Junior and Taiyang went back and forth with some talk about a fight that the two of them had caught recently on television.    
  
James was just working on something that looked like a shopping list.    
  
Despite everything, the atmosphere in that back office was mostly comfortable. James' quiet working felt like the most natural backdrop that Roman could have imagined from him, and Junior and Taiyang both seemed jubilant at best.    
  
Of course it was all going to get interrupted and ruined.    
  
It came from the sound of someone's gym bag dropping heavily against the hard floor in the main room. Roman was about to shift to go and look who it was, but before he could even do that someone was pushing the office door open.    
  
"Hey, Teddy." It was a woman's voice- Raven's, if Roman guessed correctly.    
  
She stepped into the office and looked between everyone there. She saw Taiyang, and the blond raised a hand so that he could wave to her quietly. Raven didn't respond, and for a second Taiyang actually looked a little more than dejected over the cold shoulder he’d gotten.    
  
Junior shifted and looked up at Raven. "What is it?" He raised an eyebrow and his brow furrowed a little bit at the same time. The man set his food down on the wax paper that it had come wrapped in and moved to stand up.    
  
"I figured I'd come in today." Raven answered. "Do you mind if I brought a guest to box with?"    
  
There was a sound of a chair creaking, and almost everyone looked over to where James was, since he was the only one in a chair that could have creaked or squealed in the way that the sound had. 

All of the color had drained out of his face.    
  
Junior noticed and Roman saw the widening of his eyes for a second before Junior focused back on Raven. "Do you think your guest could come in here and pay some fees?"   
  
Raven rolled her eyes and shifted so that she was almost out of the frame of the door before calling over her shoulder to whoever she had brought along with her.    
  
"He wants you to pay!"    
  
The person with her didn't respond, but there was the distinct sound of footsteps approaching. Raven pushed the door open the rest of the way, and then Qrow Branwen was stepping into the office.

Roman too felt the color drain out of his face at Qrow's arrival, but he was sure that his reason for it was entirely different for whatever James’ was .    
  
Qrow noticed him, smiled, and winked for a second before leaning back against the wall and focusing on Junior. Taiyang looked a little bit like he was ready to throw down and fight someone.    
  
"How much do you want me to give you to use the ring?" Qrow asked, his voice as craggy as it had been the last time that Roman had seen him. Last time, Qrow had been drinking and Roman had figured that was probably the reason for his voice sounding like that.    
  
Now he wasn't so sure.   
  
Junior was about to open his mouth to give an answer but clamped it back shut to look over at James, who was already moving his still-wrapped sandwich out of the way to find a sheet of paper.    
  
Roman realized quickly that he was probably looking at how far behind they were on their bills or something to figure out how much they should charge. Since Qrow was normally at a different gym, then he supposed they could charge whatever they wanted with him without feeling too bad.   
  
James took his time, scribbling some equations down on a sheet of paper before looking up at Junior. "Fifty for the day should do."    
  
The giant nodded and looked over at Qrow. "Do you think you can manage that?"    
  
"Yeah." Qrow shifted, reaching into his back pocket and taking out his wallet which he just dropped on the desk in front of James before also sliding off a set of rings that he wore on his right hand. "Mind if I pay before I leave if I leave all that here as collateral?"   
  
Junior looked back over at James again, once again asking for some sort of permission to give an answer. James didn't say anything though. He just reached out and picked up Qrow's things before storing them away in a drawer in his desk.    
  
"You have five  hours before we close."    
  
Qrow smiled slightly and nodded. The thin man looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something but James raised a hand to quiet him. Qrow understood and nodded before turning and leaving the office, closing the door behind him so that he would have less to worry about in the long run of things.    
  
The second the door was closed, there was a certain sort of relief that filled the room for almost everyone. Taiyang looked frustrated. James seemed more thrown off by Qrow's presence than he had been earlier that day, and that was  _ very  _ interesting to Roman at least. He hadn't expected that sort of thing.    
  
Junior was the only one who seemed to be one hundred percent. Roman was a little bit confused by the fact that Qrow had decided to wink at him upon arriving.    
  
"So." Roman opened his mouth to speak, hoping that he'd be able to break some of the discomfort that was filling the room at that moment. "Anyone want to explain what that was all about?"    
  
"He came in to train with his sister." Junior answered. "And probably to get into Taiyang's head."    
  
"So..."   
  
"We don't tend to question what he does, Roman." Taiyang said, quietly. "We just pay attention to his patterns."    
  
James looked over at Junior and he looked like there was something that he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to say.   
  
It was weird, Roman realized. In the end, what Taiyang had said did seem to be about right. It seemed like Taiyang was right about how they all dealt with Qrow on the day in and day out. They would let him in and hope that he wasn't that bad, and then they'd tolerate Qrow while he was there.    
  
Roman didn't doubt for a second that there were things that he didn't know, or that people didn't want to tell him, or maybe they were even things that had begun to be seen and treated as though they were taboos.    
  
His eyes flickered over to James for a second again.    
  
"Is...." Roman began to ask a question but needed to pause when he realized that he didn't like the particular question that he had wanted to go ahead and ask James. "Is there something else that isn't talked about or is he just an annoyance?"   
  
James swallowed visibly and looked back over at him for just a moment before looking back at the door again. The man's gaze was too focused, too frustrated almost. Roman wondered if he was going to get anything out of James about what was going on, or whether he was just going to be left to wonder about Qrow.    
  
"Qrow..." James finally began to explain. "Qrow is a lot of things." He finally finished his statement. There was a certain sort of intensity in James' voice that Roman had never heard before. It was James sounding deadly serious. "He's unreliable, he's a drunk, you can't trust him for anything." James paused and looked away from everyone else for a moment. "It's best to let him be around Raven. She can keep him in line."   
  
The entire room was silent, and Roman could practically feel Junior shift slightly, then he heard Junior growl something at James. "You could keep him in line."    
  
"It's not worth the effort." James grumbled. "We let him in so that he can see Raven. That's it."    
  
Roman swallowed and pushed himself up out of his seat, wondering whether he could fake getting out of the room for the sake of going out there to figure out whatever it was that was going on. If he listened closely he could hear the sounds of Raven and Qrow bickering over something, though the sounds of gloves hitting against boxing bags would punctuate certain statements.    
  
"I'll be right back." Roman said before he went to the door and slipped out. He was quick and careful to close the door behind him so that he wouldn't end up raising too many suspicions about what he was doing.    
  
He kind of wanted to go ahead and try to talk to Qrow, even if it was only for a little bit. It was probably a bad idea for him to try and do that, but he wanted to see what he could learn.    
  
And besides, he was pretty sure that he and Qrow probably had some unfinished business. There was a certain pang of guilt that Roman felt over that thought, considering how things had changed between him and Junior as of late, but it was probably for the better that something was done to deal with it all.    
  
Romen let out a quiet breath and turned to see that Qrow was in the middle of a miniature spar with Raven. She was dressed in shorts and a sports bra, and looked like she was ready to kill, while Qrow was dressed in a long sleeved shirt like the kinds that James seemed to like for working out, though the sleeves had been pushed up above his elbows.    
  
The twins both seemed to notice Roman's arrival. Qrow dropped his gloves and stood up tall before looking over at Raven as though he expected for her to say something. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the side of the ring where she leaned against the ropes. Qrow climbed up onto one of the turnstiles and used it as a perch.    
  
"Roman." Raven called to him, and Roman put on the most confident look that he could manage for them. He turned and looked up at the set of twins before walking up to the lower edge of the ring himself. The least that he could do was act like he belonged there.    
  
"Need something, Raven?"    
  
"Nah." Raven answered. "Wanted to know something though."    
  
That was weird, was the first thing that Roman could think. He couldn't think of any reason that Raven of all people would ask him anything, especially when he was probably the one person at that gym that knew the least about anything. Roman just highly doubted that there would be anything that he could actually offer to them that they wouldn't be able to get by talking to Junior, or James, or even Taiyang.    
  
He was the clueless one on staff.    
  
But if she wanted to ask him something, then Roman was willing to try and give an answer. He shifted the way that he was standing slightly and decided to put on his best and most expressive personality for her. The cocky one that he usually used when he needed to get something.    
  
"Sure thing," he started, leaning in slightly. What could I possibly help you with?"    
  
"You know what's going on behind the scenes, Roman." Raven answered. "And if something is wrong..."

Roman looked at Qrow, then back to Raven as he realized what specifically she was trying to ask him. "The gym's not going down if that's what you're trying to ask." He spoke up. "They're just going through a rough patch with some of the finances."    
  
Raven was about to ask him something, but she didn't get a chance to speak up. Instead, Qrow decided to interject.    
  
"Hey, Red." He called, and that was more than enough to draw Roman's attentions up to the man's perch. Roman had to take a step back so that he could feel like the two of them were in the middle of any sort of even conversation, but he could manage.    
  
"Yeah?"    
  
"I know you, right?" Qrow asked, leaning in slightly. He rested his still gloved hands on his knees with the motion and squinted in Roman’s direction, just slightly. “You know you aren’t really the type that would be seen at this sort of place, right?”    
  
That… was a weird thing for Qrow to say. It was a weird thing for anyone to say, really.    
  
But Roman wasn't just going to roll over and let Qrow taunt him over the fact that he didn't fit in at the gym that well. Roman  _ knew _ that he didn't fit in there, and in the end, he knew that he was going to be more than capable of brushing Qrow's criticisms off because they were all things that he'd already learned to own.    
  
"You know what, handsome," Roman started, resting a finger on his chip for a moment as he feigned being in thought for just a moment. "I think you and I do know each other. Or rather, each other's mouths. You know, Qrow, the back corners of bars aren't exactly the best place to make friends."    
  
Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked between Qrow and Roman in some sort of disbelief. She opened her mouth a little bit so that she could say something, but Qrow was quick to wave it off.    
  
"You didn't seem to mind me that much at the time, Red." Qrow commented before hopping down off of the turnstile. "I might even say that you were enjoying it. How'd that hickey treat you?" Qrow's rusty colored eyes narrowed a little bit and he even smiled, like he thought that he was getting somewhere with everything. "What are you doing here, Red?"   
  
"First of all," Roman started, knowing that there was a bit more of a snarl in his voice than there should have been otherwise. "I'm working here as the promoter and I  _ know _ that I don't exactly fit in, but I'm good at my job." He raised his voice a little bit, perhaps a bit more than he really should have. "And that hickey worked out fine, thank you very much." 

"If you ever want another one-"    
  
"From you?" Roman almost laughed. "Trust me, I don't."    
  
"That's fine." Qrow leaned back against the edge of the ring, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not even the best piece of ass in this gym." Qrow’s smirk widened. “And you know it too.”   
  
Something about that particular comment was enough to put people in action. First it was Raven, throwing a bottle of water at the back of Qrow's head, and then it was the sound of the office door opening and Junior stepping out and raising his voice.    
  
"Qrow!"    
  
Roman blinked and looked back at Junior over his shoulder. Junior making an appearance was more than enough to tell him that he had support that could probably sweep the floor with anyone in that gym.    
  
Qrow's eyes bounced from Roman to Junior, and his face actually split into a deep smile. "Oh," the red eyed man commented. "I see how it is."    
  
Raven hopped down out of the ring now and reached out for Qrow's shoulder to tug him back before he could get himself into too much trouble and start an actual fight. "Calm down."    
  
"Nah." Qrow answered. "Red's the one who got all spicy here, not me." His eyes focused on Junior. "I didn't do it, teddy bear. It was all your little friend here."    
  
"Enough with the bullshit, Qrow."    
  
Another voice entered the fray and almost the entire room froze as James hobbled out of the office, leaning on his cane the entire time and looking angry.    
  
"So he finally notices." Qrow answered before looking back at Junior and Raven. "You gonna throw me out?"   
  
James advanced, getting close enough to Qrow that he was almost pinning the man in against the ring behind him. "What are you  _ actually  _ doing here?"   
  
"Sizing up my competition." Qrow answered.    
  
"Don't lie to me, Qrow." James growled. "What do you want?"   
  
Roman slipped over towards Junior in hopes that he could find some comfort in the bigger man. He partially figured that Junior wanted to be around because if something went wrong, it meant that he was going to need to step in.    
  
"I just wanted to stop in and see some good friends at Xiong's." Qrow answered, putting on an innocent sort of act. "It's not my fault Red didn't like me asking him where I knew him from."    
  
James' eyes whipped over to Roman and for a moment Roman actually found himself freezing over the intensity of the motion. James was intimidating, but Roman also had a feeling that he was on the guy's good side at the moment. His eyes flicked back over to Qrow.  "If you don't have a real reason to be here-"    
  
"You  _ know _ my reason to be here, Jimmy."    
  
"James."    
  
"Whatever."    
  
The two men’s gazes locked, entirely too intense from both sides in a battle of wits of sorts that wasn’t going to be dropped off so easily. If looks could kill, Roman was sure that both James and Qrow would have dropped dead on the spot.    
  
But this was nothing more than a battle for dominance. It was an intense one, but it was a battle for dominance nonetheless.    
  
James was the first to break it again. “If that’s all you wanted, you shouldn’t have come here, Qrow.” He took a half-step back, just enough so that he could create some distance between himself and Qrow.    
  
Roman just tucked himself in close to Junior in hopes that something would either be explained to him or that he would at least be able to stay out of the crossfire of whatever was going on between James and Qrow specifically. So far specifics had been elusive.    
  
"It's not the only thing I'm here for." Qrow took his own step back, but when he did it the motion looked cocky, like Qrow had planned and organized for everything to happen right there in the middle of the gym. "But the acknowledgement is real nice, let me tell you."    
  
"If you have nothing-"   
  
"Let me guess, I can leave?" Qrow deadpanned, his red eyes narrowing a little bit in James' direction. "Good to know you want me around so badly."    
  
James shook his head and turned, and then he was making a beeline to go back to the office. Qrow didn't budge from where he was, just looked between Junior and Roman for a moment before letting his gaze slide back over to where Raven was standing.    
  
"Qrow." Junior started, keeping his voice as controlled as he could manage. "I think it's best that you leave." 

Qrow let out a low whistled and seemed a little bit too relaxed despite everything that had just happened. Like he'd been expecting for every piece to fall into place exactly as he wanted it to. Roman was a little bit lost as to what Qrow's intentions were, but he mostly didn't want to get into the middle of it at this point.    
  
"Yeah." Qrow admitted, deflating a little bit. His gaze slid over to his sister and he shrugged. "Thanks for the invite, Rae." Qrow took a moment and began to slip out of his gloves before turning to grab his bag of things and heading to the door.    
  
He paused there for a moment and sighed before looking back at Roman. "Hey, Red, if you ever want, drinks are on me next time." Qrow went silent and his door flickered over to the closed office door where James was surely stewing anger behind it. "If he ever comes around..."   
  
"Qrow." Junior's voice sounded insistent as he reached down into his pockets to produce everything that Qrow had left behind as collateral. "Just go."    
  
The black haired man seemed to deflate further at that, but at the same time, he seemed to have accepted that this was the best possible outcome to end up with. "Right." He took his things,  pushed the door open and looked back over his shoulder, and then just like that, Qrow was gone.   
  
Roman swallowed and reached up to the side of his neck, brushing the tips of his finger over the spot where there had been a hickey not too long ago. He sincerely hoped that there wasn't going to be anyone asking questions about what Qrow had been talking about, but at the same time...   
  
Raven was the one to speak up now.    
  
"Junior." She drew the giant's attention up to her. "I'm sorry about that."    
  
"Yeah." Junior grumbled, shoving his hands down into his pockets in a motion that almost read as being aggressive. "It's fine, Raven. Just..." He shook his head and looked over at Roman, then to the door, before looking back at Raven. "Just a lot to deal with. You know how things are."   
  
"Yeah." Her gaze travelled to the office door as well, and they lingered there. Roman recognized the fact that there was something that looked a little bit like pain that flit through Raven's expression when she watched it. Like she had something that she needed to say to one of the men behind it.    
  
The office door opened and Taiyang stepped out. He made a quick advance to Raven's side and said something quietly to comfort her, and then the two of them were out, probably planning to go on a drive or something.    
  
As for Roman and Junior, they stood there mostly in silence until Roman decided that the best thing he could do was just leave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take new prompts and questions there!](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


	35. Ragged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fill in the blanks.

"Hey, so Pumpkin." Summer settled her head against Roman's shoulder and stretched herself out across the ragged old couch that the two of them were currently sharing with Taiyang. She had her legs draped over Taiyang's at the moment, and despite the fact that they had the couch at capacity, it was comfortable.    
  
It had been a few days since the incident with Qrow at the gym, and Roman was still feeling mostly uncomfortable around people as a result of everything that had happened. There were certain stories that had been outed to people because of Qrow.    
  
Now the fact that Roman had spent an evening in Qrow's lap wasn't a secret at all.    
  
The fact that Roman hadn't heard a word from either James or Junior since that all had come out told Roman that things were going poorly.    
  
But there was a bright spot or two in all of it, he supposed.    
  
The biggest of the bright spots was the fact that Summer had invited him to spend time with her and Taiyang, and Raven by extension. The car ride to get there had been interesting, with Roman learning all about how Summer was pretty sure that she wasn't just attracted to Taiyang. 

Roman figured that she'd been hoping that he'd be able to give him some sort of comfort that they weren't bad choices in people to have interest in. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t had her screen dates for him in the past, so the least he could do was help.   
  
He hadn't been able to comment on Raven much, but he'd been sure to reassure Summer that there was absolutely nothing wrong with having an interest in someone like Taiyang. Hell, Roman was sure that if it wasn’t for Junior, he would have been after the guy himself.    
  
"Yeah, Sunshine?" Roman asked, turning his head so that he could look over at Summer directly. "Something wrong?"   
  
"You've just been all quiet." She squirmed slightly and reached down to bat one of Taiyang's large hands away before it could settle on her thigh. "I'm just worried about my Pumpkin Pie."    
  
"Summer-"   
  
"Roman." Her eyes were too intense for the situation. "I'm just worrying about a good friend. I invited you over to have fun with us, not to mope." She reached up and brushed his red hair out of his face so that she could see his eyes a little bit better.    
  
Roman's face screwed up a little bit at that. "I'm just kind of..." He shrugged. "Things have been awkward is all."    
  
Taiyang squirmed a little bit and reached across to where Roman was sitting to nudge his shoulder with a closed fist, though the motion was ultimately gentle. "I'm not mad at you." He said, quietly. "I know it probably doesn't mean much but..." The blonde shrugged slightly. "He was baiting you to bait other people."    
  
"Why would he do that, though?" Roman asked, shifting slightly and forcing Summer to sit up properly. "I'm just confused about it all."   
  
The door to Taiyang and Raven's apartment opened, and then Raven was stepping in and shrugging out of the black leather jacket that she'd worn out. Roman looked back over his shoulder to watch as she peeled herself out of her combat boots with one hand while she held a large paper bag that presumably contained their beverages for the evening in it.    
  
Taiyang looked back over the couch to see her too. "Raven!" He called.    
  
Raven rolled her eyes and tossed her long black hair out of her face with one hand before she advanced into the living room. "What are we talking about?"   
  
"Your brother." Taiyang answered, though it was coming in a deadpan tone.    
  
Raven let out a noise of annoyance and dropped down onto the armrest next to Taiyang before sliding down so that she was sitting in his lap. Roman watched her, and watched the way that Taiyang nearly wrapped himself up around her. There was something about it that almost felt domestic about it.    
  
"What about him?" Raven asked, removing the first bottle of beer from the bag that she'd brought with her.    
  
"Roman's just confused is all." Taiyang said, letting one of his hands stray over to Summer's. Summer took it and squeezed gently before adjusting herself so that she wasn't making anyone too uncomfortable with her positioning alone. "Qrow chose him as a ..."   
  
"Yeah, Qrow was out of line." Raven cut Taiyang off. "But I can't do anything to stop him. The guy brings weirdness everywhere he goes." She paused. "Roman, you realize that he was using you as bait, right?"   
  
"You see, Raven." Roman sat up a little bit more and Summer whined at the motion. "That's the thing. I don't know why he chose me as bait because he and I don't really have anything to do with each other."    
  
"It wasn't for you." Raven replied as she reached for a bottle opener.    
  
Taiyang was all quiet for a moment and then he finally let himself speak up. "He was trying to get James to react."    
  
That wasn't an answer that Roman had been expecting, but at the same time it was one that didn't exactly shock him. There had always been something off about how James and Qrow tended to be around each other.   
  
"You do realize that some context would be really helpful?" Roman said, mostly hoping that he would be able to prompt something out of either Raven or Taiyang that would end up shedding some lights on the situation.    
  
Taiyang and Raven's gazes met in a silent conversation as the two of them tried to figure out what they wanted to do and how they were going to do it.. One of them was going to have to start with the explanation eventually. Eventually their eye contact boke.   
  
Raven nodded and turned those red eyes onto Roman.    
  
"Qrow and James used to be really close." She began, speaking over the the lip of her bottle. "I don't know  _ what _ it was exactly, but it was really close. James would come home from his tours and they would spend all their time together, then he'd be back off to wherever in the world it was that the government wanted him. But while he was here..."   
  
Sumer blinked and looked over at Roman like she had something that she wanted to say before looking over at Raven. "Do you mean that they were..."   
  
"Not dating." Taiyang interjected and shifting just lightly. "If they were, it was weird and they weren’t going to say it. But… they were always together when Jim was around."   
  
Roman felt a little bit confused by all of it, and he certainly had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask but couldn't find any way to phrase the questions he did have. There were pieces that were just missing from the explanation that he'd been given, and Roman wanted to know more.    
  
There probably wasn't going to be much of it, though. It seemed like there were a lot of secrets being kept that even those ‘in the know’ didn’t know.   
  
"So... what happened?" Summer asked. "If they don't get along now?"   
  
Raven shook her head and her expression actually looked somewhat bitter. "James disappeared on everyone. Junior wouldn't talk about what was going on, but James just disappeared for… a long time.” There was this far-off look in her eyes, and Roman was left with an overwhelming sense of dread. He knew what had happened, even if it hadn’t been addressed to everyone.

But Roman didn’t let himself pull his eyes away from Raven as she spoke. He couldn’t do that now.

“When he finally showed back up he was just... different." Raven crossed her arms over her chest and relaxed further into Taiyang's arms.    
  
Tai tightened his grip on Raven's waist slightly and rested his head on her shoulder, humming comfortably. "He closed people out and just... stopped living, almost. When Qrow tried to make it back in James just wouldn't let him close."    
  
"So-"   
  
"Roman." Tayaing spoke up again, picking his head up slightly so that he could meet Roman's eyes. There was a feeling in those blue eyes that bordered on unexplainable. "He's been letting you in, you realize that, right?"    
  
"What-"    
  
"It's a big deal." Raven mumbled. "And Qrow gets  _ jealous _ ."    
  
Roman let out a quiet sound and just let himself sag against the couch as he tried to figure out what he actually wanted to say. The whole topic was a bit hard, but he needed to figure out what he wanted to do. Especially when he was now being presented with the very real possibility that the others didn’t know as much as he did.

It left him wondering about a lot of things.    
  
It was possible that what he should have done was go ahead and try to talk to Qrow directly. He didn't know how he was going to manage that, but maybe it was a good idea. Roman didn't know what he would be able to mediate out of the situation, but it was probably worth a shot.    
  
Summer sat up a little bit and looked over at Roman, a question dancing on the tip of her tongue and her looking like she was a little bit afraid to raise it. "Roman?"   
  
"Yeah, Sunshine?" Roman answered, his voice a little too far away for its own good. "Something wrong?"    
  
"So you and Qrow ended up..."   
  
"Yeah." Roman reached up and rubbed at the side of his neck for a moment, trying not to think about what the now-healed marking on his neck had ended up meaning in the long run. Mostly it was the fact that Junior wasn't talking to him at the moment. "We did." He shook his head. "I kind of wish that it wasn't ruining everything, but yeah, we did."    
  
Summed nodded slowly and looked over to Taiyang and Raven. "So Qrow goes to another gym?"   
  
"James' request." Taiyang answered, quietly. "If he could come back to Xiong's I think he would, it's just that he needs to be given that chance." He shook his head and his blond hair swayed with the motion, just a little bit.    
  
"He's banking on the tournament." Raven said, her voice steely. "If he can win there and shows interest in coming back to XIong's, he's pretty sure that there's no way he gets turned away again. I agreed to be his fall guy for why he’s not around but…” She shrugged. “I’d like him back.”   
  
Roman couldn't shake the feeling that there was something incredibly off about what Raven had just said. Something where the logic didn't seem to carry all the way through. The red eyed woman's gaze was upon him, though, and Roman wasn't going to be able to forget about that fact. She was an intimidating woman, and the fact that Roman was now getting tangled up with her brother certainly didn't help his case.    
  
He just hoped that she didn't judge him too heavily for it.    
  
"If you're thinking that his logic sounds flawed-" Raven interrupted Roman's train of thought with only a few simple words. "You would be correct."    
  
There it was again, the somber sort of silence that took over the entire room and made it almost feel like it was impossible to breathe. Roman did his best to relax again, to sink back into the ragged couch that Taiyang and Raven had apparently rescued from assured destruction by bonfire.    
  
Summer seemed to pick up on his discomfort, and Roman almost jolted when he felt her squeeze his knee with her free hand. "It's okay Pumpkin." She said, quietly. "I know that you didn't ask for any of this to happen."    
  
"He just chose you as an easy target." Taiyang cut in. "I'm sure if you explain to everything what you told us about how you and Qrow met everyone would believe you about it." The blonde's eyes had a little bit more light in them than had been there before now. It was interesting, but it was a sure sign that the mood of the room was finally getting better and changing.    
  
"You think so?" Roman grumbled. "Because I can think of two people who aren't-"   
  
"Okay, so I'm going to stop you right there." Taiyang reached over towards Roman, accidentally unsettling Raven's seat in the process. She shot him a glare and for a second Taiyang seemed to shrink a little bit before regaining his composure. "Those two people you're talking about are coming into this from a  _ very  _ different perspective than everyone else."    
  
"And?" Roman almost growled out the word. What Taiyang was trying to tell him wasn't all that reassuring. “That doesn’t fix the fact that Junior won’t…” He balled his hands into fists in frustration. This was why it had been a bad idea for him to get involved with Junior at all. Roman knew that this was why he'd been told not to get involved, and he'd still gone ahead and done it anyways and now it was no surprise that he had to pay the price for it.    
  
This should have been predictable. It should have been obvious that he and Junior would have gotten involved and then something would happen and then the two of them would lose contact.    
  
"I can't do my job if he won't talk to me."    
  
Raven and Taiyang exchanged a glance. She sighed and raised a bottle up to her lips before shaking her head and speaking up. "Just give him and James some space for a little bit. If James is as upset as we can guess he is, the Junior's likely to stand by him over it until things calm down."    
  
"So what do you want me to do, then?" Roman asked. He tried not to pay too much attention to the look of disappointment that had flickered across Summer's face for a moment. "I can't do my job and help save his family business now because  _ your brother _ came along and fucked everything up."    
  
" _ Don't- _ " Raven's voice turned to pure acid on one syllable. "Put this on my brother alone. There's two people that are mad at each other in that situation and it's not Qrow's fault. It's James' fault because he couldn't handle-"   
  
"Rae, don't-" Taiyang tried to interject. "He's not part of that."    
  
"I don't care." Raven snapped back as she peeled herself away from Taiyang. "The fact of the matter is that he got into the middle of something that he shouldn't have and now everything is falling to shit again."    
  
"Raven, don't."   
  
"I just want my brother back!"    
  
The whole room went silent over that. Somehow in that one sentence Raven had managed to say a thousand times more than she ever had before. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself before getting up and storming out of the apartment.    
  
Summer and Tai exchanged a look, and it was Summer who got up to go after her.    
  
Roman was left alone with Taiyang and he didn't know what to do with himself as a result of it. He curled in on himself, putting his head in his hands and trying to force himself to relax as much as he could.    
  
This was just bad.    
  
"It's going to be okay, Roman." Taiyang said, his voice sounding a bit too heavy. "You just have to give them space. Raven's got a bit more stake in this stuff than most, you have to forgive her."    
  
Quiet.    
  
"She really misses having Qrow around a lot." Taiyang stared at Raven's abandoned beer bottle on the table. "For more reasons than you know."   
  
Roman's eyes strayed over towards the bottle on the table as well, and all at once a lot of things about Qrow started making a whole lot more sense. The first meeting they'd had was drunk in the back of a bar. The second was at the restaurant where Qrow had decided that he was joining the table- and Qrow had a lot to drink for himself.    
  
And now Taiyang's gaze being attached to that bottle filled in the last blank.    
  
It left Roman with a churning sort of feeling in his stomach that wasn't at all pleasant. He wanted to say something to Taiyang so that he could offer any sort of comfort, but nothing came to mind that he could say or do to make it better.    
  
This was the sort of thing where there was no making things better.    
  
He swallowed.    
  
"I don't blame her if what I'm guessing that you're saying is right." Roman finally said, though he kept his voice beyond low when he did it. "Do you think that there's anything we can do-"   
  
"No." Taiyang shook his head with the word and relaxed a little bit. It wasn't that easy, that was clear though. It was in the way that he crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the window with a look of pure worry on his face. "I don't. Not unless we go ahead and try to meddle in things that we really shouldn't."    
  
Roman swallowed and looked back over his shoulder to see that the door wasn't going to be opened again soon. He closed his eyes and sighed quietly, hoping that he would be able to calm down and bring himself to talk to Summer and Raven later on.   
  
He was glad that Summer had gone with Raven to calm her down, but he was worried since he and Raven had come together. He felt bad about trying to leave without her, and so he just had to resign himself to just sit and wait.    
  
Things had just gotten a whole lot worse.    
  
Roman could only hope that somehow it would start to patch up well enough. Eventually, Summer and Raven were going to have to come back up to the apartment. Eventually, he was going to have to hear from either Junior or James- even if it was him being told that he had to go and leave their employ.    
  
At least he'd hear from them somehow that way.    
  
He crossed his arms over his chest and let himself fold one leg over the other before closing his eyes and just trying to get himself as calm as he could possibly manage for the situation at hand.    
  
It didn't work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take new prompts and questions there!](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


	36. Easing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to meet with Ozpin.

A punching bag dropped against the concrete floor in the storage closet with a loud  _ thud _ . Junior stared at his brother, who was in the back meticulously organizing stacks of tape and checking that all of the gym-owned gloves were in check.    
  
It had been three days since the two of them had talked about anything other than work, and Junior was at a point where he was getting fed up with things. Especially with the knowledge that his mother was probably going to be coming by to check in on them any day now.    
  
"That's the last of them." Junior said, nudging the bag over towards James. "I'm gonna go clean."    
  
James grunted in affirmation- it wasn't much, but it was also much more than Junior had expected to hear out of him. He shook his head and stepped out of the closet, leaving James alone to his work.    
  
Junior couldn't quite figure out where he was standing on a lot of things. His heart hadn't been in his work for a few days, and being able to fake it long enough to get through classes was one thing. How he was actually feeling was something else.   
  
But now when the gym was all empty and quiet, he couldn't quite get his head to calm down enough that he could actually allow himself to work properly. He was tired, he was hurt, and ultimately, he just didn't really know what he was trying to do anymore.    
  
They shouldn't have agreed to let Qrow come to the gym, regardless of the situation or Raven. Every time the guy came in for a little longer than a few minutes it tended to be trouble for him and James to clean up later on down the line.    
  
This time was no exception, but while normally there weren't a lot of known hurt feelings from the things that happened, Junior was the one hurting. If James was hurting, it was being kept hidden.   
  
Junior hadn't heard anything from Roman. The one person in all of this that Junior actually  _ wanted _ to talk to about what was happening had gone ahead and made himself as unavailable as possible, and Junior couldn't quite go ahead and pretend like he wasn't bitter.    
  
He was incredibly bitter.    


But he didn't want to be the one to breach this. He was feeling hurt because of Roman's actions, and so in his mind, it was on Roman to go ahead and try to fix things.    
  
Whether or not that was going to happen was a question.    
  
It was petty. Junior  _ knew _ that it was petty, but he didn't want to have to go to Roman begging for answers when it was likely that there were none to gain. That, mixed with the fact that James had been even more cagey than normal the last few days just left Junior feeling frustrated and fed up more than anything.    
  
He grabbed up the bottle of cleaner and a clean rag and went to the trophy case, because at least if he cleaned the contents of it he could start feeling a little bit better about what all was going on.    
  
He was frustrated and tired, but at least this way it didn't feel like the end of the world.   
  
Junior looked at the glass and sighed, spraying the rag that he'd gotten to clean with first instead of going ahead and just spraying the glass. He was afraid that it would end up streaking, but at the same time, Junior was mostly just frustrated.    
  
He let out a quiet sound as he finally began to wash off the glass of the trophy case. There wasn't anything in particular that was making him feel like he needed to clean things up, more just a general frustration with his surroundings that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.   
  
There was an elephant that wandered from room to room, and then felt free to follow him home. The only times that he felt like he was free from that worry was in the few times when he was home alone.    
  
But Junior made himself clean the glass, if only because it meant some sort of temporary relief that he would be able to cling to in hopes that it would carry him through the day.    
  
He mostly lost track of time. Once the exterior of the case was done being cleaned up, he unlocked the cabinet and reached in to begin cleaning off the inside as well, and then once that was nearly spotless, he moved on to the various items that were held inside.    


For many of them, he needed to take his time and pause before he kept on doing his work. He had to work himself up to picking up his father's favorite set of gloves and wiping the dust away from them, he had to remind himself to make sure that the photos that were inside of the cabinet were absolutely spotless as well, regardless of whether or not he actually was happy with everyone in them.    
  
He may have been an hour into his work when he realized that James was making sure to avoid him, taking on busywork around the gym and quietly talking to people that came in. Once in a while he would even usher them into the back, and when they were done, they would leave through the front door.    
  
And Junior would just do his best to stay out of the way when it was time that he needed to.    
  
There was one particular opening of the door that did draw Junior's attention though, if only because he noticed the way that the office door almost immediately seemed to open once the front opened. Junior looked down at what he had in his hand, an old gold metal and set it down in the trophy display where it belonged before closing the door and turning to see what had changed.    
  
Leaning on a cane and standing in their doorway was a man with silvery hair and eyes that were hidden between tiny glasses that looked like they had been tinted a hazel color. Junior didn't need much to realize who this was.    


He forced himself to stand up straight, but then was quick to scold himself mentally for doing so because he knew that he perhaps had made himself a too imposing presence by doing so. It wasn't something that he wanted, but in situations like this one, he didn't want to end up scaring away their visitor.   
  
"Hello." Junior said, forcing his most kind expression that he could manage through everything. Despite the fact that he'd been practically boiling with anger for a few days now, he managed to be personable and if it was any other day Junior was sure that he would have deserved a medal for it.    
  
"Hello." The visitor tilted their head slightly and looked up at Junior, some sort of recognition in his eyes that Junior was sure he'd seen before, but back then it had been different.    
  
When he'd first met their landlord, he'd been a boy hiding behind his father to some degree. He would stay out of the way politely while his mother and father handled the finances and the important business. But now his father was gone, and he was the one left to handle the business.   


Well, him and James were left to take care of things.

The last time that he may have seen their landlord had been several months before, when he'd learned that Junior's father had passed away from a rather sudden heart attack. Junior hadn't talked to him much then, mostly he'd just politely accepted any condolences he'd been given because that was all that he could think to do. 

At the time, Junior had mostly been running on autopilot.

He hadn't even really asked for this man's name, and now he was there, standing in the gym. Presumably he wanted a meeting with Junior regarding their finances.    
  
Junior  _ hoped _ that James had everything in order for a meeting with him.   
  
Ozpin's eyes flicked up and down Junior's body again, and it left Junior with the feeling that he was being sized up, for better or for worse. The silver haired man hummed quietly, and then spoke up with a certain sort of nonchalant tone in his voice that Junior suspected must have been permanent. "I suspect you must be Hei Junior."   
  
"I am." Junior said, offering a hand so that he could grant the man properly. "And you must be Ozpin?"   
  
"I am." Ozpin confirmed, shaking Junior's hand with a strong hand before finally pulling back to give the gym a quick look over. Junior figured that he was probably just looking to find things that had changed over the years. It was a little bit intimidating, and Junior couldn't help but wonder whether or not he and James may have accidentally broken something in the original rent agreement on the building.    
  
Junior inhaled and looked back over his shoulder to see that James had gone ahead and opened the door to the office as an invitation that told them that everything was ready for a proper meeting. He swallowed and met Ozpin's eyes again. "I suppose you're here about the rent?"    
  
"Among other things." Ozpin responded with a slight smile on his face. "I suppose the office is in the same place?"    
  
"It is." Junior confirmed as he picked up the supplied that he'd been using to clean up the trophy case. He was going to have to make a quick stop to get it all off of his hands, but that wasn't his biggest concern at this point. He was mostly worried about what the meeting ahead of them was going to entail.

Junior figured that was a completely reasonable thing for him to feel a bit worried about, especially considering that the situation involving rent hadn't exactly been stable for a while. They'd been suffering, and the rare contact that they had with Ozpin never really did much to assuage that problem.    
  
He led Ozpin back to the office though, and the landlord was sure to take one of the seats across from where James would normally sit. But Junior realized something quickly, the chairs in the room had been rearranged for some reason, and Junior was sure that it wasn't much of a mystery figuring out why.    
  
James had arranged it so that Junior would take the main seat directly behind the desk, while James was going to be taking one that was a little bit off to the side. It was a show of status if anything else- Junior fully expected that James was going to still end up steering the meeting with Ozpin to some degree and he wasn't going to go pretending like it wouldn't.    
  
Ozpin took the seat that he was offered though, and crossed one leg over the other  before just making himself comfortable. That left Junior feeling a little bit more than just uneasy about what was going to happen, but he had to accept it.    
  
So Junior took the seat behind the desk. A quick glance down at it told him that everything that he needed had been either set out or placed in drawers which James had left hastily-scrawled post it notes on to make sure that Junior knew where he was going to be finding things.    
  
It was a small comfort, and Junior was more than glad to relish in it. In a way, he was sure that this was part of James’ silent apology.   
  
James was next to silent as he took his seat beside Junior and leaned back in it slightly. The motion was stiff- Junior tried not to pay any attention to it.    
  
"So, I suppose you two are wondering what I have come here for." Ozpin began speaking before smiling and giving a gentle nod in James' direction. "James."   
  
"Ozpin." James answered, giving a similar gesture in greeting. "I'm sure that we can guess."    
  
Ozpin hummed quietly. "Yes," He began. "I did of course come to discuss the rent situation that's been..." The silver haired man paused. "Outstanding."    
  
Junior's eyes flicked down to the drawers on the desk and he found one that struck his interest. It was labelled with a note that just said 'Cheques' on it in James' careful handwriting. He swallowed and opened the drawer to glimpse in and see that there were two envelopes there, also labeled with post it notes. Junior tore off the notes and pulled the envelopes out before setting them down on the table. 

"We've gotten the money together." Junior said, quietly. He slid the envelopes towards the center of the desk so that they could be easily picked up. "Everything that was remaining from last month, as well as this month's." He paused before he managed to keep going. "As well as the additional money that you requested in exchange for-"    
  
Ozpin blinked and reached out to take the two envelopes. He opened them, humming quietly in affirmation to sign to Junior and James both that everything was in order.   
  
As he sat there waiting for Ozpin to respond, Junior could feel himself getting more and more anxious about the situation. He didn't know whether or not everything was going to be okay, and Junior couldn't help but feel nervous and scared. He tried not to think about the way that he could feel his heart speeding up in his chest, and he did his absolute best to ignore the feeling that told him that the best thing that he could have done for himself was to go ahead and just run.   
  
But that wasn't a good solution. While he could leave the room and James would probably be able to take care of everything- probably even better than Junior could have done by himself. But he couldn't do it, not when things were like this and his family's business was on the line.    
  
The wait for a verdict from Ozpin was one that felt like it lasted forever. When Ozpin finally spoke up, it wasn't much of a relief but it was something. 

"I do hope that it wasn't too hard for you two to get all of this together?" The man asked quietly as he set the two envelopes down on the desk in front of him. He inhaled quietly before leaning back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other as he made himself comfortable. "I know that you've had trouble with money in the past."    
  
"We have." Junior answered. He needed to take a short moment to figure out how bad it was actually for them in getting the money together. It was hard on them, sure, but ultimately it was just a matter of figuring out where they were going to get things.    
  
Junior figured he had to thank Roman at some point for the help- he'd had as much to do with them getting the extra money together as James and Junior had themselves when they were adjusting things in their budget where they could. But Roman had helped them a lot- he'd handled things that normally would have had to come out of pocket for him and James.   
  
He owed Roman quite a bit, he just had to find a way that he could thank the man without getting too angry for it.    
  
James spoke up and was able to push things along as a result. "Getting the money was a matter of finding manageable changes that we could make to the budget." He explained. "We hope that it'll be enough for whatever it is that you want it for."   
  
"I think you two have done very well." Ozpin answered. He looked between Junior and James and then hummed quietly. "Do either of you have a copy of the rental agreement? Perhaps on file here?"   
  
Juniors eyes widened because he hadn't been expecting to hear that sort of question from Ozpin. When he and James had talked about the fact that Ozpin was likely to be coming along the main concern was that they would have the money that Ozpin wanted. The fact that they might need a copy of their rent had never even  _ occurred _ to Junior.    
  
In a half-panic, he looked over at James.    
  
His brother said nothing. James simply lifted himself up out of his seat and crossed the room to go to the intricately labeled filing cabinets that the two of them kept most of their business papers in. James opened it up and began to search through for something and for a moment Junior found himself feeling incredibly hopeful that James was going to already have the rental agreement on file and waiting for them.    
  
If not, then Junior was confident that James was going to be able to just go ahead and print off a copy if worse came to worse. 

He turned his head slightly just so that he could watch the line of James' back. James had paused in front of the cabinet and was checking through a folder before he turned to set it down on the desk beside Junior. Junior watched as James pulled out two copies of the agreement- one that they had signed when Junior's father had passed away, and another that was unmarked.   
  
Ozpin reached out when James set the untouched copy in the centre of the desk for everyone to use. "That should be the agreement from this May." James explained quietly. "We have pens and pencils in case you need them."    
  
"I think I'll be fine." Ozpin answered as he reached into his pocket to find a pen of his own. "Thank you."    
  
James hummed quietly and stepped away from the desk before returning to the seat that he'd chosen for himself before Junior and Ozpin had even begun to enter the office. Once he was out of the way, Ozpin reached into his coat in search of something that Junior could only assume was a pen. Once he found what he was looking for, Ozpin uncapped it to reveal that he was carrying a rather nice fountain pen.    
  
Junior couldn't help but to wonder how much it cost. 

Ozpin just made himself comfortable though and began flipping through the document that he'd been given to work with. "I suppose we have some work to do, don't we?" He said quietly as he read through the document. The man trailed his finger down the paper and paused when he happened upon something that he was looking for. "As agreed, I will lower your monthly payments on the building."    
  
Somehow that was more than enough to leave Junior feeling a little bit better about things. There had been a part of him, at least a small part, that had been concerned about the possibility that they were going to end up giving Ozpin some money and then they were going to see nothing for it . He swallowed and watched as Ozpin tapped his pen against the desk quietly.    
  
For a second Junior looked over at James in worry over what was happening and the only response that James gave him was a slight shrug. It was perhaps the most that the two of them had communicated over anything in some time. It was almost nice knowing that James had his  back on things at the very least, but he couldn't help the other feelings that were bubbling up and trying to make him want to get angry at James again.    
  
Ozpin paused and leaned back in his seat for a moment before looking between James and Junior in search of something. He set his pen down along with the copy of their rental agreement. Ozpin hummed quietly and looked from James to Junior and then back again before raising another question of his own.    
  
"I'd like to know how much you're paying for your utilities from month to month, if you know?" Ozpin asked, quietly. "And if you have them, any other expenses." 

Junior blinked and couldn't help but to wonder whether or not James would be able to answer or not. He swallowed and watched as James stood up from his seat again to advance on the desk. To his surprise James opened the desk and reached in to find a small book that Junior was sure he'd seen before when James had been hard at work on something important.    
  
"We have all of that on hand." James said, quietly. "Though I'm curious why you ask."    
  
Ozpin blinked and hummed quietly before he decided to go ahead and begin to explain himself. "I've been renting to your family for many years," Ozpin began. "I wouldn't want to have to lose your family's business, especially following a time of tragedy."    
  
Junior's heart sank a little bit at that. There had been a small part of him that had been expecting to end up with some sort of discussion over his father at some point, but Junior hadn't wanted it to happen necessarily. It was still painful for him to think about, even  now. It was a pain that he figured wasn't going to disappear for a very long time.    
  
"So you're asking us for our expenses-"   
  
"So that I can maintain your business, yes." Ozpin answered with a slight smile. "I do rather like your family, and aside from the missing of payments lately I've never had a reason to worry about you. A Xiong has never given me grief."    
  
A quick glance over at James had the man shrinking a little bit and Junior didn't want to read into it too deeply for fear of what he would learn if he did. It made Junior's chest clench a little bit, but he said nothing. James wasn't going to say anything about it, and so it just wasn't appropriate to bring it up. If anything it might have meant that James would get a little frustrated later on.    
  
"Thank you." Junior said, though he had to work to keep his voice controlled and his tone along with it. "We would like to be able to continue operating here if we can."    
  
"And I hope to see you two remain in operation." Ozpin answered as James found some documents that could be pored over in search of answers to Ozpin's questions. "This was always a good family business and I'd hate to see it to its end."    
  
James found what he was looking for and set another folder down on the desk. He removed a few sheets that looked like hand-written financial statements that James had no doubt made over the course of the months that he'd begun to make sure that the business was still in order. Ozpin picked up the sheets of paper and nodded over at James to give him permission to sit down and rest for a bit. 

And so James did, his jaw working and tense the entire time.    
  
Ozpin looked between the two brothers and Junior shifted uncomfortably in his seat in hopes that he could make himself feel a little less awkward about the situation. If it wasn't for the fact that there was a waiting game, he wouldn't have been feeling as nervous as he did. But he had to wait for Ozpin's verdict, and that was nerve wracking.    
  
He leaned back in his seat and looked over at James to make eye contact. He was mostly just looking for any sort of comfort from his brother at the moment, despite everything and any frustration that was undoubtedly boiling beneath James' skin as the two of them sat there waiting. He knew that family comment was probably making James feel a little bit like he needed to punch something.    
  
It was always a sore spot. One that didn't get soothed easily.    
  
"I've decided." Ozpin finally spoke up. "I'm going to be taking three hundred dollars off of your future payments."    
  
Junior froze up. That was much more than Junior would have ever expected to get out of Ozpin, but he didn't feel bad about it at all. This sort of change meant that he and James would be able to live a little bit more comfortably, and they would be able to give some more attention to making the gym a bit nicer. Maybe they'd even have a better way of paying Roman at the end of the day...   
  
This was earth shattering. World changing. All at once things were beginning to start working out for them, and he was excited for it.   
  
"Really?" Junior asked. "You mean it?"   
  
"Of course."    
  
"Thank you." Junior said. He realized that he sounded a bit too excited about it, but he didn't care. This was huge and he was going to have to go ahead and tell Roman and his mother at some point about the change. He was sure that they would both be elated. "Thank you so much." 

"Of course." Ozpin looked over at James, and Junior followed his landlord's gaze. There was something in it, and instead of getting excited for what was happening, James sat there as stoic as ever. Junior figured that James was already going over facts in figures in his head to try and figure out the best ways to make things more manageable for them. They were going to have to talk about their budget once the meeting was over, Junior was sure of it.    
  
He was just glad that one of them had a head for numbers.    
  
James shifted in his seat and approached the desk. Ozpin nodded and began to make out changes to their lease on the second document that were going to be finalized at some point. "It'll be a few days before I can get a new version on file for you." Ozpin explained quietly as the scratched out numbers in a few places. "There are the legal avenues that I'm going to have to explore to ensure that everything is completely legal."    
  
"Of course." James answered, leaning forward against the desk slightly. "I suspect this will be coming into effect-"   
  
"For next month's payment." Ozpin cut James off before he could finish off what he was saying. "Think of the extra four hundred dollars as an extra security deposit." Ozpin smiled slightly and held up the document in front of their face, just a little bit away as he read over the changes that had been made to the agreement. 

Once he was satisfied, he passed it off to James to inspect. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew he didn't have a good idea of how these sorts of things worked, Junior was sure that he would have been offended by that. But he wasn't- it was better that James get a look first instead of him charging ahead and ending up with a bad deal for them.   
  
James nodded pensively. "Everything appears to be in order." He offered the sheet to Junior.   
  
Junior took the sheet and looked it over, seeing that all that had changed was that in some places numbers had been scratched out and replaced with smaller ones. He flipped from page to page, and then when he couldn't find any other changes. Everything that had changed was simply for the better for him and his family, blood or not.    
  
This could only bring about good.    
  
He smiled and set the sheet of paper down on the desk again. "It looks good." He said. "Should we arrange another meeting so that we can finalize everything, or..." 

"It would be beneficial if we did." Ozpin said as he stood up at his desk and adjusted his coat for a moment. "Do you have any questions?"   
  
James and Junior exchanged a brief look before Junior looked back over at Ozpin. "No." He said, quietly. "I don't think we do."    
  
"Very well then." Ozpin smiled at them and stepped away from the desk so that he could leave whenever everything was finally done being figured out. "We'll be in touch." He looked from Junior to James and nodded at them before reaching for the door handle.    
  
"Of course." Junior said, smiling. "Thank you again."    
  
"Good luck, Gentlemen."   
  
Ozpin opened the door, and then he was gone. James and Junior were alone in the office now, and while Junior had a lot of things that he could have gone ahead and said to James, he didn't want to. This was a good time, good things were finally happening for them.    
  
He didn't want to get dragged down in negative feelings.    
  
Junior had a feeling that he was going to have a lot of those to deal with over the course of the next few days. He didn't quite know where he was going to start on the whole thing, but he was going to have to start somewhere.    
  
It was just a matter of when that was finally going to happen.


	37. Great Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets an unexpected visitor.

"Alright, so how about neon lights on the walls?" Summer asked, her eyes focused on a photo of a building that rested on the dividing counter that separated her half of the office away from Roman's. She tapped on the walls in the photo and draw in lines in red pen while Roman looked on. "It could be a  _ really _ striking look."

"I think you're wrong." Roman answered, leaning in with a pen of his own. He drew lines along the top of the wall and along its base. "They want to paint the walls black, you want the neon lights along the floor and the ceiling so that people  _ actually know where they're going. _ "

"Yeah, but that's boring!" Summer responded, waving the butt of her pen in Roman's face. "You really are no fun today." Her voice almost came as a deadpan, but there was a characteristic playfulness about it. 

"Maybe it's boring but at least it’s practical and will look good." Roman defended himself. For a moment he couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he really was acting that off.

It was the first time that he'd managed to start feeling like himself at work in a little while, and so that prospect wasn’t a great one.He was feeling right but if others didn’t see the same thing… Well, it wasn’t good. 

All at once things had started to feel like they were crumbling for him, and Roman was sure that he was going to figure out a way to make himself feel better about all of it sooner than later. But for now, having some time when he could focus on work without letting his mind stray too much to other things helped.

Summer was a big part of that. She was smart and funny, and when she'd realized that he was still feeling down she'd found ways to help him out. In this case, it meant that she'd asked him to help her out with the interior design of one of the bars that she'd been asked to help. Roman had always liked that sort of thing on some level- especially when it was about finding ways to make the whole thing feel like a show.

So now the two of them were at the divider between their desks bickering on the best places to place lights in a hallway that led to the public bathrooms. Normally it wasn't something that he would focus too much on, but it was clear that he and Summer had  _ very _ different ideas about how to deal with the issue.

Not that Roman minded it much. It kept the two of them busy and it was a great distraction from everything else that was going on.

It would figure that the temporary relaxation that he'd managed to find would be interrupted by the sound of the door to his and Summer's office opening as a client came in. Roman looked back over his shoulder to see whether or not he'd been expecting any clients today and found that it was mostly empty.

He looked at Summer, who shrugged. She was sure that she wasn't expecting anyone.

"Hello?" A low voice called into the office, and Roman sighed before whirling himself around to face the door.

Standing there, was James Ironwood, looking a little bit nervous.

The man's appearance was more than enough to put Roman on high alert. He couldn't think of any good reason that James would be there, but James was there and he was waiting to speak to Roman with a folder in his hand. Whatever this was about, it was clearly important enough that James hadn't called him.

Roman stood up.

"James." He greeted the man. "What are you doing here?"

"I had business that I wanted to talk to you about." James explained himself, swallowing visibly. "Some circumstances changed and I figured it was best that I speak to you in person about them."

Roman raised an eyebrow because everything about that was odd. James  _ never _ did anything for the business behind Junior's back, and yet he was there with a folder and Roman had a very distinct feeling that this meeting hadn’t been discussed with Junior ahead of time.

It would also explain why James hadn't called him and hadn't said anything about wanting to have a meeting.

"That's... very interesting, James." He said, quietly as he leaned back in his seat slightly. "Is it as important as it sounds?"

"Yes." James answered. "It is." Pause. "Very important, actually."

Roman looked into James' eyes and what he saw there was indeed something genuine. James had come to him because he wanted to talk to Roman in person, and that spoke for a lot of things. Normally this wasn't something that James would do, and so Roman was left wondering whether or not he even had options for dealing with this.

"James." He spoke quietly and got up from behind his desk. He walked up to James' side and offered his hand for a handshake. He caught the way that James hesitated to take his hand for just a moment, but it didn't last long. James gave him a firm handshake and pulled away from Roman properly. "If I had anything on the schedule I would have no choice but to turn you away, I do hope that you realize that."

"I do." James said, his jaw a little bit tight. "But I figured that it was the best that I could do if we were going to deal with this..." His voice trailed off and James averted his eyes away from Roman like he was afraid of showing Roman something. Some sort of weakness. James' jaw clenched slightly and that spoke for itself. He was frustrated with something. "I'd rather that you and I talk about this without Junior around." Pause. "Or finding out about most of what I want to talk to you about, for that matter."

Summer got up and adjusted her skirt before leaving the office like she had somewhere to go with a folder of paperwork in arm. Roman mentally cursed, but he had to thank his friend for the willingness to go ahead and give James and him space like that. Roman didn't really know what he would have done if not for that fact.

His and James' eyes met.

"Would you prefer it if we met somewhere more..." Roman paused, thinking for a good word that he could use before finally managing to settle on one. "Private?"

James nodded, and that was it. Roman walked to his desk and began to pack up some of his things so that he and James could go and have a meeting without being interrupted or overheard while they did it. As Roman packed his bag up for the day ahead, James waited quietly and when they both were ready, they went out to the parking lot where only Roman's car was waiting.

Roman raised an eyebrow and looked over at James. He knew that James tended to have trouble moving around at home and late in the day, and Roman couldn't help but to wonder how James had gotten there. He figured that James seemed to be moving alright, but it was still a question.

But it probably also wasn't his business to know how James got from point A to point B on his own without a car. Roman gestured to his car, and James nodded, stepping up to the passenger's side and waiting patiently for Roman to unlock the door. Once that was done, James and Roman both climbed in, and Roman watched James for a moment.

The good thing about James as opposed to Junior was the fact that James lacked the extra five inches that made it impossible for Junior to get into Roman's car without worrying about the soft roof. James had a bit more wiggle room and seemed to take his seat easily enough, though that wasn't to say that there wasn't a certain sort of uneasiness in James' motions that didn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon.

"So," Roman said, once they were both in the car and the windows were up. "Where do you want to do this?"

James sighed quietly, at a loss for words. Roman figured that James would have gone ahead and offered them his and Junior's apartment if not for the fact that there was the possibility that Junior or Junior's mother could show up. Finally, James spoke up and forced a weak smile of sorts.

"You pick." He mumbled quietly. "I want for you to feel comfortable for whatever we end up talking about anyways."

Roman paused and looked over at James, who was peering out the window instead of over at Roman. It was clearly James trying to avoid something in the time that they still could avoid the heavy topics that were going to ultimately end up dominating their conversation.

It was odd, but Roman could understand it at the end of the day. It wasn't that weird.

He couldn't blame James for it.

So he pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive across the city so that he could bring them to his apartment. There was the guarantee that the two of them would be able to have a meeting without interruption, and if he got lucky there was always the chance that the two of them would end up ordering something to eat while they talked things over.

The drive across town was quiet for the most part, mostly because neither of them wanted to breach anything until they both knew they were somewhere safe and were without the risk of ending up in a crash out of shock. For a little while, Roman decided that the best thing that he could really do for him and James would be to go ahead and turn on the radio so that they had something to think about that wasn't the inevitable ways that the meeting ahead of them could potentially go to shit.

Once they were parked in front of Roman's building, he and James both got out of the car and for a moment Roman felt a pang of guilt. James and Junior had the luxury of living in a building where James could take an elevator all the time.

Roman was pretty sure that he'd never seen James take the stairs for anything. When James had let him in that one night, the two of them had ridden the elevator back up to James and Junior's apartment. For a moment, he wasn't even sure whether or not James was technically even able to use stairs.

It was probably dumb for him to think about that, Roman knew that, but he still couldn't help but wonder if he was going to end up feeling bad about all of this stuff later on. Hell, he already was feeling guilty for it. 

But when Roman opened the door to the building and opened it up to show a straight set of stairs that led up to his apartment, which was on the topmost floor, James didn't protest it. He just took the stairs like anyone else would, and for a moment Roman worried a little bit less about what was coming up ahead of them.

James wasn't in pain, and so that meant that James was probably going to be amiable enough.

Assuming that nothing bad ended up happening and making the whole thing fall apart.

James and Roman both stepped into the apartment, and Roman had to pause. Normally he would ask for people to take their shoes off at the door, but with James he wasn't sure if he should. Roman's mind flashed back to the first time that James had decided to share anything with him about anything.

James had a prosthetic leg, after all. And he was shy about it. 

"You can keep your shoes on if you want." Roman said, quietly as he slipped out of his own pair of shoes. "I don't mind-"

"No, it's fine." James answered, his face flushing a little bit in embarrassment. Roman watched as James carefully slipped out of his left shoe before taking his time to get out of the right.

James wore heavy socks, and if it wasn't for the fact that there was a certain sort of odd heaviness about it when James set down his right foot, Roman was sure that he wouldn't have even realized that one of James' feet wasn't the real thing.

But James was giving him a certain sort of openness that Roman had never seen from him for  _ anything _ . Roman needed to be delicate with this.

He cast a glance around the apartment. "If you want to wait in the living room, I can be in with a minute with coffee, alright?" He paused, wracking his mind to try and figure out if he remembered how James took his coffee. "Black, right?"

James blinked, and there was a clear look of disbelief on James' face. James couldn't believe that he was being treated so kindly for a second. Roman wondered whether or not he was accidentally misstepping and wasn't realizing it.

"Yes, actually." James said quietly as he began the walk over to the living room. "Look, you don't have to feel obligated to-"

"James." Roman paused. "You came to me for something important, and you've..." His eyes strayed down to James' right foot. James froze a little bit, but that said enough. James had gotten the message about what was going on. "I think that the least I can do is to make sure you feel like a proper guest."

"Right." James mumbled quietly. "Of course. That makes sense." And with that, James carefully lowered himself onto the couch and made himself comfortable for the meeting ahead.

Roman slid into the kitchenette and began to fix the two mugs of coffee and wracked his mind for things that James could have been coming to him about.

Was this about work? Was this about Junior? Was this about Qrow?

Roman didn't have even the slightest clue, and that scared him quite a bit.

Roman seated himself on the couch next to James on the man's right side and offered the first of the two mugs of coffee to James in hope that he would be able to make things a bit less awkward. James nodded at him and seemed to have to adjust his grip for a moment. He took the first sip of coffee and smiled to show Roman that the drink was in fact satisfactory.

"So, Jim." Roman began quietly. "What is this even about?"

"Work." James said first before pausing. "And a few other things."

Of course. Roman had mostly expected that sort of answer and he'd been ready for whatever was going to end up being the issue at hand. "Alright then." He sipped his own coffee and relished in the way that the heat seemed to sink into his bones and help him warm up and even relax.

"Work first?"

"Sounds good." James said as he leaned back into the couch somewhat awkwardly. His entire body looked like it was a solid, unbroken line of tension. "Junior and I spoke to our landlord today." James began, and for a moment Roman felt his heart beginning to sink in his chest. They were losing the gym, weren't they?

"James?"

"He's willing to lower our payment every month by a fairly significant margin." James explained to Roman as plainly as he could manage. Despite that, Roman couldn't help but feel like there was something else that had changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, not quite. So he just nodded along and listened to James as intently as he could. "To say that this is a game changer for us is a bit of an understatement."

That had to be it.

_ Us. _

James had never referred to the gym as though he had any stake in it, at least to Roman’s knowledge.

Roman couldn't help but wonder what had changed, but decided that it was for the best that he didn't ask about it too much. This was James' business and he didn't belong in the middle of it, Roman knew that.

"How much are we talking?" Roman asked, trying to bring himself to think about what was going to be the best solution for them. If the payments were changing that James and Junior had to make every month, then it meant that they were going to have more money to spend on improving the gym.

There were certainly things about the gym that needed to be improved, and if Roman knew James and Junior, there had to be a list of things to improve and fix lying around. Both of them would have notes, though Roman was sure that what they paid attention to was different.

"A couple hundred a month." James explained. "It's more than we thought he was going to give us." There was a slight shrug in James' shoulders and then he continued talking. "But it's changing a lot for us. I figured it would be prudent to tell you in a timely manner."

Roman raised an eyebrow at that and sipped his coffee. "James," he began to ask. "Did you think that Junior wasn't going to get into contact with me or something?"

James' hesitation spoke for itself. Roman's heart sank. James sipped his coffee with an expression on his face that read as being pure worry. "I wasn't confident, no." James mumbled finally over the rim of his coffee mug. "He's been..." James shook his head. "It's my fault. I'm sorry."

That was the strangest thing. The one thing that Roman hadn't been expecting to hear out of James at any point, and especially not now. Roman wanted to reach out and offer James some sort of comfort over this, but he couldn't think of anything that he wanted to say to James. He couldn't think of anything that he could tell James.

The unfortunate truth of everything was that there wasn't really any one person that could be blamed for what had happened. James could blame himself, but that didn't change that Roman had had a role, or that Qrow was probably the one to blame more than anyone else.

He picked his hand up and was ready to reach over to James so that he could place a hand on James' shoulder. He wanted to give James any sort of comfort, but wasn't so sure that it was possible to do anymore. But he hand to try.

Roman gently rested his hand on James' shoulder and almost immediately he felt James' entire body go rigid, and Roman almost instantly recoiled as though he'd been given some sort of electric shock.

"Jim?" He asked. His voice came out a thousand times more scared and tiny than it should have. It wasn't what he wanted- the last thing that James needed was probably that.

For the first time, Roman realized that James was fragile underneath the layers upon layers of ice that he had built up around him.

"I'm..."

"Talk to me." Roman whispered. "You... is something wrong?"

James was too quiet, and when he finally began to speak there was something his voice that made James sound like he was broken. Roman wanted to offer further comfort, but since James had seemed like he'd been ready to pull away from Roman at any second, he wasn't sure that he could.

"Roman, it's just..." He shook his head. "You've gotten pulled into things that you didn't deserve to be." James shook his head again, but he didn't do anything to try and pull away from Roman. That tension remained underneath Roman's hand though. "I'm so sorry. Everyone's unhappy now because Qrow and I couldn't work our things out. Junior's..."

"You know, James, I've been trying to get some sort of context on the stuff with Qrow but that hasn't been easy to do. Nobody's really been as forthcoming as-" He paused, wondering whether or not he should bring up how Junior was going or not. While James had mentioned the man, Roman wasn't sure that it was his place to ask. Whether James would be willing to answer. "Why is Junior upset?"

"Junior is..." James paused. Weighed his words. "Roman, he's mostly just frustrated with me. I think that it would help him if you explained... whatever it is that happened between you and Qrow personally, but he's mostly angry at me."

Roman groaned, because he did know that it was something he probably should have gone ahead and explained to Junior much earlier. He wasn't sure whether or not Junior had been aware of the fact that he'd had a hickey on his neck the first night they'd met. Roman had mostly been far too afraid to feel like he could go ahead and ask about it.

At his side, James was still sitting stiffly. He stared down into his coffee with those blue eyes, and there was something that Roman was afraid to find out the meaning of swimming in them. His entire body looked like it was completely filled with a tension that wasn't going to break.

For the second time, Roman had to fight back the feeling that told him to reach out and try to give James some sort of comfort while they were there together. Maybe he needed to talk about things himself. Maybe this was a weight that he was going to have to work through things with James if they were going to get things done.

But the tournament was coming up. This had to be nothing more than a distraction for Junior, but Roman couldn't just let it fester. He swallowed and finally decided to speak. "How far away is the tournament?"

"Two weeks." James mumbled quietly. "It's two weeks."

"This is a distraction." Roman stated, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing. "James, I need you to help me figure this stuff out with Junior if I can and then..."

"And then Xiong's goes to the tournament." James hesitated, and Roman had a feeling that he knew  _ exactly _ what was on the man's mind when he did so. The ever present question of how long Roman was going to be working for Xiong's. "Roman, you've... helped us a lot, you know that?"

"I've been doing my job." Roman paused. "Which was to help Junior."

"They're grateful for your help, you know that?" James almost laughed. There was a bitterness to it. "Junior and his mother. They're so glad for it, and...."

"And what about you?"

Silence. James' expression dropped. "Not my place to say."

"James, you-"

"You have helped the Xiong's more than you'll ever know." James reiterated, purposely distancing himself from Roman was best as he could. This time, Roman didn't let him do that. He stepped in and placed his hand on James' shoulder and this time when James went completely rigid under his touch, Roman didn't pull away.

"James, you can call them your family." He said, his voice a little bit more intense than he would have liked. "I'm not judging you for it." Pause. "You love them, right?"

"Of course I love them." James mumbled. "But they aren't my family and it's not..." He shook his head.

Roman paused. It was time to talk about himself, he figured.

"I grew up in a home, James." Roman said quietly. "Mine didn't want me. I would have killed for someone to want me enough to take me in like they did you."

"Roman, it's not-"

"What's the big deal?"

James froze up. Went completely rigid again. Roman had touched on something that James wasn't going to want to talk about to any real degree. Roman noticed it, and he could only hope that he could figure out what it was.

"Roman, it's..." He shook his head. "They're family but they're  _ not _ . I want to help them, but making sure that Junior is alright is my priority right now. The gym has to be taken care of, and Junior needs..." James' voice trailed off and he looked at Roman directly for only a second before looking away again. "Look, I think you should talk to him."

"I think you need to talk to someone-"

James shook his head.

"I don't need to talk to anyone." James mumbled. "I asked to speak to you because I want for Junior to be taken care of. You deserve better in this situation and so does he. Just... talk to him and tell him about what's going on. Explain your story."

Roman mentally swore as he realized that things were devolving rapidly. All of the progress and good that had been done between the two of them had begun to fall apart. He was ruining anything, and it was all because he was relying on James not to be emotionally constipated for more than three minutes at a time.

"I'm going to talk to him." Roman said, almost growling. "But I think that I'm not the only one that has to do explain things."

James got up and he finished off his mug of coffee. It almost looked like he was heading for the door and then Roman froze, realizing that there was something off about this situation. He didn't know how James had gotten to his office still, and now he didn't know how he the man expected to leave.

"James, don't..." Roman wanted to reach out to grab James' shoulder so that he could stop him manually. "If you want to go, I can call..."

James sighed quietly. "Roman, just... talk to Junior. Please. Don't worry about me."

Roman stepped in and set a hand on James' right shoulder. He tried not to notice the way that it didn't have any give. James stopped and looked back at him with his eyes a little too soft and something in them that Roman quickly recognized as being hurt. Pain. Sadness.

"Look, I'll..." Roman paused. "I'll drive you wherever you need to go. Home, the gym, you say and I'll get you there." He sighed, not sure whether or not this was going to go anywhere. Roman was mostly sure that the first second James got a chance he was going to run.

"Roman, you don't have..." James paused and stared down at his feet with those dark eyes of his. "Roman, you don't have to do anything for me." Pause again. "The only thing I want you to do is talk to Junior so that I can see my brother get his head back."  

Roman squeezed James' shoulder gently, for a long moment Roman couldn't figure out whether or not James could actually feel it or not. It wouldn't have surprised him if the answer was that James couldn't. That hurt to think about.

"I'm going to talk to him, James." Roman whispered. "I'll talk to him, just... promise me that you're going to tell him what's going on too."

James didn't answer him at first. He didn't move to leave, he just stood there frozen stock-still. James opened his mouth to speak for a second but stopped before he could let anything out. In the end, all that James did was he raised a hand mutely to let it rest on top of Roman's for a second.

"James..."

"Roman, why are you so..." james stopped himself, choking on his words the entire time. "Roman, what do you want from me?" Pause. "I'm not... the person that you want to be around. That's Junior It's better if I go and I just..." Pause again. "Manage."

Roman stepped in close to James. "Let me drive you home, Jim." He whispered. "Please. "

"I can do it on my own." James whispered. "Thanks for the offer."

Roman nodded, he figured that it was the best that he was going to get from James. There was a pause. "You don't have to push me away."

"I know." James said, his hand hovering over the doorknob as he was about to leave. "It's just better this way Roman. I hope you'll understand."

Roman didn't know what to say to James at that. There was a certain sort of melancholy that wasn't going to leave him at this point. James left.

Roman was alone.

He didn't know what to do.


	38. All Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because it's time to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little late on this one. Sorry guys!

Junior stepped forward and punched the heavy bag that hung in front of him as hard as he possibly could. One punch then another, sidestep. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. Repeat until he was so tired that he could barely stand, let alone _move_.   
  
Things had changed so much in the last few days and he was still having trouble getting his head calm and back under control. There were things that he needed to do, for instance. He was still yet to get back into contact with Roman so that he could tell the man that was aiding in running his business that they were getting some fairly substantial help.   
  
He hadn't seen most people over the course of the last few days. Raven had taken to avoiding the gym, which Junior could have easily assumed would happen once Qrow got himself into trouble. Where Raven went, Taiyang tended to go.   
  
And James wasn't being of much help these days. He was too content to stay closed off in the back staying exclusively in his own sphere that Junior rarely ever touched.   
  
Right now, the gym was empty. It was late at night, and nobody had really come in over the course of the day and it left Junior wondering what the hell he was actually doing there. James had gotten a ride home from Taiyang earlier on.  
  
Nothing was going to make him feel better about all of this.   
  
He hit the bag again, this time so hard that he actually felt the impact down into his wrist and he heard the chain that it was attached to rattle violently.   
  
Junior let out a heavy sigh and stepped away from it, raising a gloved hand so that he could push some of the hair that had flopped down into his face out of the way so that he would have a little bit less to worry about in the time being.   
  
He wanted to do a lot of things, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do them. There was a lot on his mind that wasn't going to be going away anytime soon and ultimately Junior couldn't help but be a little bit afraid because of it.   
  
If he wasn't going to be able to calm himself down enough that he could run his own family's business, then what was he doing here other than risking them money?  
  
Junior hopped down out of the ring and began to head towards the office in hopes of getting a cold bottle of water from the tiny fridge under the desk there.   
  
He stepped inside and looked around. Since Ozpin had come to speak to them, not a single thing had changed. It was utterly spotless, and it felt entirely too impersonal for his liking. When his father had still been alive and running the gym, there had always been something back here.   
  
Usually it would be people eating- his father had wanted to serve everyone that came through the door the leftovers from their family meals the night before. When he and James had left home his parents had never quite gotten used to cooking in smaller portions.   
  
It meant people got a lot of free meals out of Hei Xiong Seniorr.   
  
But that sort of thing almost never happened anymore. He and James didn't have the resources for it these days.   
  
Junior opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He was about to leave the office when he had to stop himself over the fact that he could hear his cell phone ringing in his duffel bag in the corner.   
  
That... was weird.   
  
Junior looked at the clock to check the time, and that just left him wondering who on earth would be bothering to try and call him at this hour. It was only a little bit weird, and Junior was left without answers until he picked up the phone and took a moment to glance at the caller ID and find out who the culprit was.   
  
The number that was prominently displayed was Roman's, with a photo of the man that had been taken during one of their times that they'd spent together.   
  
Almost instantly Junior felt his heart sink as he was faced with the choice to go ahead and pick up the call and talk to Roman about whatever it was that Roman wanted to talk to him about, or he could hang up, ignore the call, and go on with his life in hopes that the only time he had to talk to Roman was over payment discussions.   
  
It wasn't a good choice for him to make.   
  
He chose the option that was going to leave him feeling less like a colossal ass.   
  
He picked up the phone and held it to his ear, wincing before he finally forced himself to speak into the receiver.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Junior?" Roman's voice sounded sad. Like something may have happened. "That you?"  
  
"Yeah." Junior seated himself in the great chair in the office and did his best to make himself as comfortable as he possibly could. "It is." Pause. "Why are you calling me?"  
  
"Little bird told me that I should." Roman answered, pausing for a moment. Junior's heart raced as he tried to figure out who the little bird in question could be.   
  
Either it was Raven (which was unlikely) or it was Qrow (doubly unlikely.) Most likely of all was the possibility that Roman had simply not paid attention to his choice of words.  
  
Junior hesitated as he tried to think of something to say to Roman. While he knew that it was probably in his best interests to just ask exactly who had passed on the message that it would have been wise for Roman to call, Junior didn't want to do that. It was entirely possible that Roman was keeping things vague on purpose. The guy was probably afraid of making things worse.   
  
"Roman?"  
  
"Actually, it was James. He came to talk to me the other day at my office." Roman began to explain himself, quietly. "He wanted to make sure that I knew that some things had happened regarding the situation at the gym, but he also wanted to talk to me about... you." On the other end of the line, there was the sound of Roman shifting in some discomfort. Junior wondered if the guy was lying in bed or something.   
  
"Did he now?" Junior deadpanned, feeling a little bit frustrated by the new revelation but also not really feeling quite up to saying anything else about it. James had gone ahead to take care of business and had decided to bring up the personal stuff in the meantime.   
  
There wasn't really anything wrong with that, Junior _knew_ that. It was just that there were things that he wanted to know more about.   
  
"Yeah, he did." Roman answered. He paused for a moment, and then Roman spoke back up. "Junior, look, I'm really sorry about everything that happened the other day. I didn't know what I was getting into and I definitely didn't mean to hurt your feelings."   
  
"Roman-"   
  
"No, let me talk." Roman interrupted Junior. That was the first time that Junior came to the realization that there was something really _wrong_. He cast a quick glance around the gym and decided to take a seat against one of the corners of the ring. "I feel like I have to explain what happened with me and Qrow, but..." Roman paused. "I don't want to tell you anything that you think will make you uncomfortable."   
  
Junior swallowed. This was one of the things that he'd been afraid of getting brought up in the long run, but he figured that it was also probably inevitable that they had to talk about this. It wasn't fun, but they needed to deal with it.   
  
Junior had mostly just been afraid of what would happen when it started.   
  
"You..." he paused. "You can tell me."   
  
Roman paused and then he let out a fast breath that almost sounded like it was filled with relief, but not quite. There was something missing that made it hard for Junior that it was Roman feeling any sort of true relief.  
  
"Do you remember the night that you and I ran into each other at the store?" Roman began. "I was kind of... not entirely sober at the time. I'd gotten out of the bar and got hungry. That night I'd been... well, I'd been drinking and I hit it off at the bar with this guy that I hadn't known was Qrow."   
  
Junior felt himself grip his phone a little bit tighter than he should have, but he also couldn't quite stop himself from what he was doing. He was starting to get an explanation, but somehow what he was hearing wasn't doing much to make him feel a lot better about everything that had happened that day.   
  
"Look, Junior, nothing happened." Roman said. "We ran into each other at the bar, started flirting, and made out in a corner for a while before we went our separate ways."   
  
Junior swallowed, a thousand questions swirling in his mind that weren't going to be easy to ask or get answered. There was some slight relief in what Roman was saying, but Junior needed a little bit more to make him feel better.   
  
"Why were you hiding it?"   
  
"It never came up." Roman said quietly. "When we first ran into him when we went out to get wings with everyone, I realized I knew him, but neither of us really talked to each other that night." There was a momentary pause before Roman continued. "I didn't know that he was going to start doing this sort of thing because he knew that it was going to be a way to mess with people around him."   
  
Roman swallowed audibly and shifted on the other side of the line again. "I'm sorry, Junior. I really am."   
  
"Roman-"   
  
" _I like you_ , Junior. A lot." Roman cut him off again. "I meant that when I told you it. I like you a lot and I don't want to lose..."   
  
Roman's voice trailed off and Junior was afraid for what it could possibly mean.  
  
"I don't want to lose you, Junior."   
  
That had a bit of an effect. Junior couldn't quite figure out what he was supposed to say next or do with that new revelation. This was Roman giving him nothing but pure emotion, and now that it was happening Junior mostly didn't know what he wanted to do anymore. Or what he should do.   
  
He closed his eyes and inhaled, probably a little bit too sharply. Roman could probably even hear him as he did that, but Junior needed to be able to sort out what he wanted to say to Roman.  
  
At the end of the day, the truth of the matter was that Junior did indeed want Roman around. He wanted to be able to be friends with the redhead at the very least, and if more was possible, then Junior would be glad to have it. Roman had given him a lot of pieces of a puzzle that he needed to be able to begin putting together how he actually felt about everything. That didn't necessarily mean that Junior knew what he was supposed to do with it or what he wanted to do with it.   
  
"I..." He swallowed, trying to push down the rush of feelings that was overtaking him. Junior knew that it wasn't smart to go ahead and do that, but he needed something to help him figure these things out. "I don't want to lose you either, Roman." Junior managed to get the words out, though it was difficult and straining. "Thank you for calling me."   
  
"I needed to make sure you knew." The orange haired man on the other end of the line responded. "It's not simple, and I know that but..." His voice trailed off slightly. "I'm sorry. That's all there really is to it, I'm sorry. I messed up."   
  
"Your apology is accepted." Junior said, knowing that it probably sounded a little bit like he was choking on his words. "Roman, look, I'm sorry-"   
  
"Why are you apologizing?"   
  
That made Junior pause. He knew exactly _what_ he wanted to say to Roman, but he couldn't find the words. He wanted to apologize, for a lot of things, and there wasn't any easy way that he was going to be able to do that. No matter what, there was going to be something for Junior to contend to. He wanted to apologize to Roman- no, he _needed_ to apologize.   
  
"Roman, look, I-" Junior leaned forward slightly and tried to make himself feel a bit more comfortable. "I shouldn't have cut you off the way that I did. And I shouldn't have given you any reason to feel put out." He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to collect his thoughts so that he could say something that was at the very least remotely understandable. "You didn't deserve that. I jumped to conclusions-"   
  
"Don't." Roman cut him off before Junior got a chance to finish. "Junior, you aren't really at fault for a lot of this. I should have been honest with you, and I wasn't. You didn't deserve to feel like you got strung along for anything."  Pause. "Look, I don't know about you big guy, but if you and I can go ahead and put this behind us, we can go ahead and finish off this contract."   
  
Junior's heart sank at that again. That was the confirmation that their relationship was probably changing to something that was going to be strictly professional. It wasn't going to be fun, but at the end of the day, Junior figured that it was probably in the better, at least in theory. "Right." Junior swallowed. "We'll put this behind us."   
  
The man closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down a little bit more. There was too much that he wanted to say and he didn't have the words for any of it.   
  
"Junior?" Roman's voice sounded impossibly small. Junior had thought that he'd heard Roman at his least confident before, but now he wasn't so sure about it. He hadn't sounded anything like this before. This time Junior thought that there was even something in Roman's tone that spoke of heartbreak and sadness rather than just fear.   
  
"Yeah, Roman?"  
  
"Look, if it wouldn't be too much to ask for..." Roman's voice trailed off. "Would it be too much to ask to see you in person so that we can figure all of this out?"   
  
Roman's question made Junior need to pause for a moment as he tried to think over whether or not he had any actual preference about this. While he definitely wanted to get the entire issue that had arisen between him and Roman resolved, there was that worry hanging in the back of his head about what should happen if the two of them ended up in a room alone for any amount of time at this point.   
  
They were both upset, on some level. Sure, they had gone ahead and talked, but it wasn't much to be excited for. What if he said yes to Roman's question, the two of them met in person, and then everything just began to fall apart rapidly from there? What if they ended up fighting or getting angry with each other and would just end up ruining things between the two of them further?   
  
That wasn't what they needed to do. It definitely wasn't what needed to be done for the gym, and so Junior felt like he was at a loss for words.   
  
He stood up and looked around the gym, with the phone still pressed to his ear as he struggled to come up with anything that he could say to Roman.   
  
Junior closed his eyes and let out a quiet exhaled as he went to the best source of advice that he'd ever gotten. He had to reach into his memory a bit, and for a second he could swear that he could almost hear his father's voice.   
  
His father would tell him to go ahead and talk to Roman in person. Better to talk it over in an environment where they had neutral territory in person rather than over the phone and end up risking missing something important.   
  
"Yeah." Junior finally made himself answer Roman's question. "We can meet in person." He had to pause, realizing that it was not only late but that there probably weren't a lot of places in the city that could be considered neutral territory that they could go to. There were their respective apartments, but that wasn't going to be neutral no matter what.   
  
Not to mention the fact that James was almost guaranteed to be at the apartment.   
  
"So..." Roman's voice trailed off slightly. "Where do you want to do this?"   
  
Junior swallowed and had to think hard for anything that could offer the two of them help in this situation, even if it was only for a little while.   
  
"I know a place." Junior began to explain, and Roman was content to listen. When they were done talking, Junior hung up the phone and did everything that he needed to do in order to begin cleaning up the gym before he left.   
  
It was five minutes before he was out the door. 


	39. The Dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and Roman meet at a bar.

Roman's heart pounded hard against his chest as he drove towards a dive bar that he’d never heard of in the middle of the city. The only reason he was going there was because Junior had recommended it. Normally, Roman wouldn’t have gone for a dive bar of any sort, since they rarely had things he liked and any sense of atmosphere tended to be lacking. But Junior had wanted neutral territory, and Roman wasn’t going to fight him on that. 

He was mostly afraid that he was going to end up in a situation where he and Junior were going to end up being overheard or recognized or otherwise bothered. That was what he didn’t like about unknown territory most of all. Apartments weren’t neutral, and public places were only so good. It was late, and so options were running low.    
  
The day had been too eventful. Roman was tired- he felt like he was close to collapse, and now he was going into a situation that was undoubtedly going to leave him feeling beyond emotionally drained, regardless of whether it went well or not. He was sure that the second he got home that night he wasn’t even going to have the energy to do anything other than go straight to bed.   
  
There were a thousand possibilities for what could happen during this meeting flashing through his mind. They could meet and everything could go well, and then he and Junior would be back to business as normal and  _ maybe  _ they'd even be able to stick together as friends. Maybe they'd get to be something more. They could meet and it could go terribly. Roman would find himself out of work, cut off from Junior and James by extension, and then he would be left to watch as Xiong's failed sideways until there was no business left to look after.   
  
That was probably the worst case scenario.   
  
Roman knew that.    
  
That didn't mean that he was necessarily able to stop himself from thinking about that particular possibility, regardless of how realistic it was.    
  
Roman sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm himself down as he pulled up in front of the bar that Junior had recommended. It looked like a dirty place, the kind that would have cheap specials that were enough of a draw on their own. He didn't know why Junior would think  _ this  _ was a good place based on the exterior, but he had to trust in Junior for this- even if it was only for a little while.    
  
A quick glance around the area presented Roman with no sign that Junior was there. There was no sign of James and Junior's car, and the bar looked like it was going to be relatively crowded as it got closer to last call. Roman swallowed and parked his car, placing his hands on his steering wheel as he tried to calm himself down just enough that he didn't feel like a complete wreck.    
  
This was going to go fine, Roman told himself.    
  
He and Junior were going to talk, and then everything was going to end up resolved, wonderful, and charming, Roman told himself.    
  
This wasn't going to potentially be the end of everything if one of them said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing.    
  
Nope. That wasn't what Roman wanted to think.    
  
He couldn't help the feeling of being afraid for this.   
  
Roman swallowed, probably a little bit harder than he should have and then he forced himself to move. He needed to get out of the car, go into the restaurant, and then just accept that it was time for him to just  _ wait  _ for Junior to arrive.    
  
Whenever that would be.    
  
He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of his car and took a moment to pat his clothing down into place so that he could get his things into order, and then he began on the way into the bar.    
  
The first thing that Roman thought when he stepped into the bar properly was that it was dingy and unclean. This wasn't the sort of place that he would want to associate himself with as a businessman, that was for sure. There were too many tables that looked like they had sticky tables, and the waitresses with their tops unbuttoned didn’t add much to the atmosphere. It was wholly blue collar, and that was how Roman supposed it made sense for a place that Junior would go to.   
  
He glanced over to the bar to see if Junior was there, and when he didn't spot the man, Roman's heart sank. He leaned against a wall and reached down into his pocket to see that he had a new message from Junior which told him in quite plain terms that Junior was on his way.    
  
_ Soon.  _   
  
Okay then.   
  
Roman didn’t know how long he was sitting there before he began to lose track of time. If it was just one thing that was making him feel the way that he was, that would have been one thing, but as things stood he was in a position where he had no choice but to sit and wait until Junior would inevitably arrive and the two of them would be able to talk things over.    
  
He deflected the various bar workers that approached him to ask whether or not he was alright enough, and eventually the door opened and Junior stepped in, looking a little bit more flushed than Roman would have expected. He couldn’t think of a reason why Junior would be looking like that unless he’d walked that night. It wasn’t particularly cold. 

Their eyes met. After a second Roman pulled his away because of the sheer awkwardness of the situation. It wasn’t great for him to do that, but he needed to feel okay.    
  
"Hey." Junior said quietly. "Thanks for calling me."    
  
"It's no problem." Roman responded, thinking back to the meeting with James earlier that day with some bitterness. He had to remind himself for a moment that it didn't seem like Junior had known that James was coming to see Roman. No matter what, he didn't want to end up throwing someone under the bus that didn't deserve that.    
  
"Is it?" Junior asked him as the two of them stepped inside and began on the way to a table so that the two of them could talk properly. This wasn't going to be anything like the date at the restaurant that the two of them had shared that one time. This was going to be completely different, and much more awkward on the whole.    
  
"Yeah." Roman sank down into the booth and tried to make himself as comfortable as he could manage for the time being. "Look, I just want to get to starting to fix things up.'    
  
Junior mirrored what he was doing, taking the seat on the other side of the table. Again, it was nothing like it had been before. This time when they sat like this there probably wasn't going to be any playfulness or flirting. They were probably going to be in a position where the two of them were going to be focusing on work and work alone.    
  
"Yeah, I want to fix things up too." Junior replied to Roman, sounding a little bit more than just bitter. "Look, I shouldn't have tried to cut contact off between the two of us like I did." Pause. "I just got really upset and I didn't want to have you around much. You didn't deserve that, Ro. I think I was putting frustration with other people on you when it wasn’t deserved."    
  
Roman swallowed. He hadn't been expecting to hear any sort of apology for that sort of thing, especially when Roman was sure that he was the one that was mostly in the wrong relating to everything that had happened. He was the one that had failed to be honest about everything with Junior. He should have told Junior about him and Qrow at some point, but he'd never thought to.    
  
But there was a saving grace that Roman knew he'd be able to cling to that would determine how things went between the two of them on this upcoming mission. Junior had used a nickname with him instead of 'Roman.' If there had been no nicknames, that would have been one thing. But being called "Ro" told him that at the very least, Junior wanted to put things back together between them so that the two of them could  _ actually  _ be friends again.    
  
"Look," Roman began his rebuttal, weighing every word in his mind carefully before he dared to say them out loud. "You aren't the only one in this that was messing up." He swallowed visibly and tried not to ball his hand into a fist. The last thing that he wanted was to end up showing any sort of discomfort to Junior right now. He had to act like he was as strong as possible so that he could make it through this without breaking. "I should have told you about the Qrow thing..."    
  
"I don't blame you for that, Roman." Junior mumbled, quietly. "Look, it's..." Pause. "Complicated. I'm mad, but I'm not sure that you're the one that I'm mad at about the whole thing. You wouldn't have known that he was going to go ahead and do that sort of thing, and if it is really what you say-"    
  
Roman's heart sank because the only reason that Junior would say something like that would be because Junior didn't believe him about what had happened. He didn't want that.    
  
"You don't believe me?"    
  
"I do believe you." Junior replied, quietly. "It's just..." Junior paused again. "Was there a reason that you involved in that sort of thing that night?"    
  
That... hadn't been the sort of question that Roman had been expecting. In fact, it was just about the polar opposite of what he had been expecting to end up being asked about it. He'd been expecting for his reasons for it to get ignored completely.    
  
But that was the thing- the sad truth was that Roman didn't actually  _ know _ whether or not he had actual reasons for what he'd done. It had been a heat of the moment thing that had been born mostly from frustration with the fact that he was mostly just bored and lonely. Junior was attractive and had definitely had Roman's eye at that point, but he hadn't actually been considering much of anything between them at that point.    
  
It had all been base physical attraction and alcohol- nothing else.    
  
"It's..." He paused. "It's really hard to explain, Junior." Roman looked down at his hands instead of up at Junior. "I was lonely that night, and a few drinks and a decently attractive guy weren't things that I wanted to turn down right then. If I had known what would happen down the line, I wouldn't have-"    
  
He had to stop himself.    
  
That definitely wasn't what he'd wanted to bring to the table, but it was out in the open to be talked about now.    
  
There was no getting around that fact.    
  
Junior was giving him a look that spoke to some sort of disbelief, and Roman wasn't so sure that he could blame the guy for it. Things were complicated, things were a mess. It was just the way that things tended to be between the two of them.   
  
Roman just wished that wasn't the case.    
  
He pushed his hair back out of his face by roughly running his fingers through his bangs. It hurt, but not enough to make him wince. Roman didn’t care. It was just what he needed to do in order to make himself feel a little bit less weird about the whole thing. Roman knew that he wasn't going to be able to get his hair back in order until much later, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to take.    
  
"The point is that I'm sorry." Roman forced himself to finish. "I'm just really sorry."    
  
Junior sat across the table from him, so quiet that it was enough to make Roman feel a little bit sick with anxiety. This was them dealing with things, he had to remind himself. This was just something that they had to do if they were going to get by.    
  
"I..." Junior began to speak, only to quickly stop himself a moment later as he tried to collect his thoughts on what he wanted to say. "I accept your apology, Roman." He went quiet. "I just kind of want to try and forget that all of this had ever happened right now."    
  
"Me too." Roman admitted. "If you're okay with it-" Roman reached over the table, offering a handshake. "I"d like to do that."   
  
The boxer seemed to hesitate for a moment before he too reached across the table and the two of them met in a handshake. The touch between them seemed to linger for a little longer than it should have, and Roman had to accept it as a small comfort.    
  
"So it's settled then?" Junior asked, his voice quiet. "Because if you're okay with it-"    
  
"Settled." Roman confirmed, finally taking his hand back and resting it on the table in front of him as he tried to make himself a bit more comfortable. He had a lot of things that he probably had to say in addition to what he and Junior had already talked about, but Roman wasn't sure that it was a good time for them.    
  
It wasn't a good time to bring up things like work, for example.   
  
Junior leaned back in his seat and made himself comfortable, peering at Roman from across the table the entire time. "So, is that all that you wanted to talk about?"    
  
That wasn't an easy question to answer. Roman thought back to his conversation with James earlier that day and how things had gone then. There was a lot that the two of them needed to talk about, and James had definitely said some things that Roman had been concerned about. But at the same time, Roman wasn't sure that they were things he could reasonably bring up. Whether they were topics it was his right to breach.

"Yeah." He forced an answer. "I think so." He paused, thinking before locking his eyes with Junior's. They were still that same comforting dark grey that Roman always ended up wanting to be wrapped up in. There was warmth in them that Roman hadn't expected to ever see again.    
  
It was comforting to know that despite everything, Junior didn't seem to be so mad at him that he wanted to drive Roman away completely.    
  
"So," Junior drummed on the table for a second with his fingers before balling his hands into fists, like he was afraid to end up accidentally throwing off the less than comfortable mood that had slipped over their table. "Now that we're here, we might as well get something to eat, right?"    
  
Roman sighed. He'd figured that this was going to be a part of what happened there, if only because he was sure that they were going to have to do something to be able to avoid the fact that the two of them were in fact using the space at a restaurant to talk about things.    
  
"Yeah, I guess so." Roman answered, looking over at one of the laminated menus that were at his side. He already had the slight sinking feeling that told him that he wasn't going to be able to eat anything off the menu there without hating himself for it later, but Roman also didn't want to come off as rude. If he was lucky there would be something that he could eat without falling into complete self hatred for it.    
  
Naturally, it was Junior that was the first to reach over to look at the actual menu. Roman resigned himself to his fate and reached over for a menu himself and began to search it over in hopes of finding anything. There were some things that didn't seem like they were going to be the worst thing possible but-    
  
Roman looked up at Junior, realizing that there was probably something else that he and Junior should probably address, at least as far as the food front was concerned. He had no idea how Junior had arrived there that night, and he didn't want to be the only one that wasn't drinking as a result.    
  
"Hey, big guy." Roman said, snapping Junior's attention up to him. "How'd you get here tonight anyways?"    
  
Junior blinked at him and shrugged a little bit before beginning to explain himself. "I walked." He explained with a shrug. "The apartment's not that far away from here so I didn't mind the walk that much."    
  
"Ah." Roman answered, feeling a bit awkward because of Roman's response. "If you want I can..." He paused. "I drove so if you think that you want a ride…”

There was another sort of awkward silence that began to hang over the two of them. Roman couldn't help but wonder whether or not he had accidentally severely misstepped in making the offer to drive Junior home. Maybe it was because Junior thought that he had some sort of ulterior motive that was going to be getting in the way of things? Maybe Junior thought this was just Roman doing his best to make him open back up like before.    
  
That wasn't the case, and Roman knew that, but he couldn't help but wonder how much of that Junior knew. He was worried about the situation there quite a bit, but he didn't want to end up with it seeming like that he as imposing himself in ways that he shouldn't have. Roman sighed and balled his hands into fists as he finally decided on something that he wanted to eat while he was there with Junior. It was going to be hard to figure things out.    
  
But all that he could really do was sit back and hope that Junior said yes and that it would just be taken as a run of the mill kind gesture.    
  
"I wouldn't mind it." Junior said finally. "It can get a bit chilly this time of night-"    
  
"Right." Roman forced a smile of sorts. "Of course. I'd be happy to make sure that you get home safe and all of that."    
  
Junior just nodded awkwardly and looked down at the table. When it came to be time to make an order, he made it, and when it came time for them to leave, the two of them left almost silently. Once things had begun to be dealt with, the two of them had begun to slip away from talking. It was almost universally accepted between the two of them that this wasn't going to get fixed overnight, but Roman had also mostly managed to go ahead and accept that.    
  
When he dropped Junior off, all that he got out of the giant boxer was an awkward, stumbling goodbye.    
  
Roman drove in silence to a home that was going to be so empty that it almost felt spacious, despite its size. He didn't want for things to be this way, but it seemed like they had to be.    
  
The truth of the matter was that Roman was feeling terribly lonely, and that wasn't going away.    
  
For a little while it had been feeling like it had been getting better, but here he was now. There was no avoiding it.    
  
Maybe he was just meant to be lonely.    



	40. Sorting Things Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it's good to sit and think.

When Roman went to work on Monday morning, he found an empty office.  It was a bitter reminder of how bad the loneliness was that he’d been feeling over the course of the last few days. 

Despite the fact that he’d managed to talk to Junior about everything, it wasn’t enough to make him feel better. A bit of food and a talk at a bar couldn’t possibly fix everything. Things had been too messy for it to be patched up so  _ cleanly. _   


The possibility that Junior was still angry at him was one that clung in the back of Roman’s mind almost constantly. Junior had accepted his apology, sure, but it just didn’t feel like enough. It was too easy to think that Junior had just accepted the apology for the sake of the gym rather than for any personal reason. 

In the end, Roman was mostly stuck in his own head and he  _ hated _ it. 

So Roman had to spend his time trying to occupy himself with other jobs. It wasn’t easy- he couldn’t quite concentrate on anything. Because of that and how he knew that it would derail his work more, Roman made a point to avoid anything that had to do with Xiong's. It was just for the better to keep that distraction away from his mind for a little bit.   

After about an hour of working, the office door opened and Summer stepped in, carrying her bag and two cups of coffee with her. She looked Roman up and down for a moment, looking a little bit unsure of what she wanted to say to him. Summer let out a quiet sigh and took a step or two forward so that she was at Roman's side. Carefully, she set one of the mugs of coffee down at Roman's side and eventually spoke.   
  
"Hey there Pumpkin." Her voice was quiet and comforting. It was clear that she'd picked up on the fact that Roman wasn't quite feeling himself the second that she'd walked into the room to talk to him. Roman was grateful for that.    
  
Roman forced a smile and looked up at Summer. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to fool her for a second, but he had to try and make it look like he wasn't a complete mess. It was the very least that he could do for her.    
  
"Hey Sunshine." Roman said, smiling softly up at his friend. "You brought coffee."    
  
"I did." Summer responded quietly as Roman reached over to pick up one of the two cups that she'd brought in. He could feel the warmth of it as it radiated into his hands and even a little bit up his arms. "You've been hard to get ahold of the last few days, you know that?"    
  
"I do." Roman grimaced before he finally took the first sip of his coffee. "There was a lot going on with..." He paused. Summer gave him a knowing look, and that was all that he needed to know that he had managed to bring up an issue that Summer was familiar enough with on her own. "It doesn't matter. I talked to both of the Xiong brothers."    
  
Summer paused as she was about to seat herself at her own desk. "I know that one of them came ot talk to you the other day." She paused ."Was it just personal stuff or..."   
  
"He wanted to talk about work and personal stuff in one go." Roman paused, realizing again how badly he had messed up when he'd allowed for himself to get wrapped up in Junior on the emotional level. He'd known that it was wrong for him to start thinking of anyone that he worked with in that way, and he'd let himself do that anyways. Roman figured that it made sense that he paid for it now.    
  
He just wished that it didn't hurt so badly.    
  
Roman thought back to his time that he'd spent with Summer at Taiyang and Raven's apartment. He had left before he got a chance to see Raven again that day, and there was still some part of him that was worried about what had happened there. "Are things okay with Tai and Raven?"    
  
Summer paused, frowning a little bit as she turned her seat so that she faced her desk instead of Roman. "Raven was just..." She paused, her voice trailing off slightly. "She was kind of upset. I ended up staying the night there to try and help her get calmed down."    
  
That hadn't been what Roman had been expecting for Summer to say, but he figured that it made sense. He knew for a fact that the woman had been getting a bit close to Taiyang when she spent time with him, but Roman didn't really know what was going on with regards to Raven. There were some times where it looked like Raven and Taiyang were dating, but a lot of times where it didn't seem like that was the case. No matter what, it was a situation that never ceased to leave Roman feeling a bit confused.    
  
Not that what was going on between him and Junior was much better. From people who didn't know the two of them all that well, he was sure that they had to look like they were somewhere between dating and not dating, with a fair amount of dramatics in between that kept things a little too interesting. As far as Roman knew, people didn't speculate much on him and Junior. 

Or maybe they’d decided that they were equivalent to a bad soap opera. 

But if people didn’t speculate too much around him, he didn’t mind. It made things a little bit easier.    
  
"I'm really sorry about it, Summer, you know that?" Roman turned in his seat slightly so that he could look at his friend. She had her back turned to him at the moment, and that wasn't really something that actually bothered him at all. It was one of those things that he had just come to expect and to deal with. "I know that you wanted me around to make things feel less weird and I just-"    
  
"Roman." Summer paused, her body seeming to go a little bit stiff before she let out a quiet sigh. "We don't blame you. Taiyang and Raven certainly don't. Don't let this drag you down too much, okay?"    
  
That was probably the best that he was going to be able to get out of the woman that day. Roman  _ knew  _ that. He respected her for wanting to stick by Taiyang and Raven, regardless of whatever their situation was.    
  
"Okay." Roman said as he tilted his seat back and relaxed into it. "I'll try not to."    
  
Summer relaxed a bit, and it made Roman feel a little bit better. He knew that taking her words to heart was going to be difficult, but the fact that she didn't seem to be angry at him for things made some small difference to him. If Summer wasn't angry at him, even with the other night in mind, Roman supposed that it was possible that it meant he was on better terms with everyone than he thought.    
  
The woman turned in her seat slightly, just enough so that she could look at Roman. "So." She began. "Xiong's has the tournament coming up, doesn't it?"    
  
"Yeah." Roman said. He looked over at his calendar where he had marked down the date of the tournament in red ink. It was coming up on them, very quickly. Roman didn't know how well he was actually going to be able to manage things on the day of the actual tournament. It depended on a lot of things, he supposed. It depended on how well Raven performed, and whether Taiyang could go far, and on the elusive Peter as well.    
  
But they weren't the only ones that they needed to worry about, Roman reminded himself. How James and Junior managed to keep the group together and in order on the day was going to matter. Whether or not any of them ended up there with an injury was going to matter. Whether or not he could get a good enough idea of how a tournament was  _ supposed _ to look was going to matter as well.    
  
Part of what he needed to do at this tournament was make sure that he managed to set things up for Xiong's to be successful in the future. He wanted for it to be possible for Xiong's to host tournaments in the future, and he wanted to see them take home something that said that they were a gym worth going to.    
  
"You know..." Summer began. "Taiyang and Raven invited me to the tournament to see them fight." She smiled over in Roman's direction, but it was the kind of sly look that spoke to her having something on her mind that could potentially help them both along. Summer never had that look on her face unless she thought that there was potential in it.    
  
"You going to come along?" Roman asked, turning in his seat and sipping his coffee. For the first time he realized that there was some hint of caramel in it. Not his usual preference, but Roman certainly didn't mind it that much. "Because I'm sure Taiyang wouldn't mind a pretty girl or two by the ring."    
  
Summer blushed a dark maroon. Roman had seen her blush a few times before, but never so deeply. It was always an embarrassed thing that started at the tips of her ears and creeped down onto her face and her neck. If Roman was into women he was sure he would have even found it cute, but as things stood, he was just familiar with it.    
  
"He..." Summer raised a hand and brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "He's nervous about everything. Qrow's in his head a bit more than he should be, and I think he's been trying really hard to train so hard that nobody could possibly doubt him." Her voice trailed off for just a second before Summer got it back. "He cares about this a lot. I think he's afraid that if he fails..."    
  
Summer's voice trailed off again and her eyes flickered over to Roman again, a certain sort of trepidation lingering there. She was just afraid of what would happen if things went poorly as anyone else was. Taiyang was feeling it too. Roman wouldn't have been surprised to find out that Raven was feeling the same thing but hiding it better than everyone else.    
  
"If he fails, that's not..." Roman tried to think of something that he could say to his friend to offer her comfort about things, but nothing came to mind. There was probably nothing that he could say that would make things better. "Look, I think we're all afraid. Everyone that's been through that door and spends any time there is afraid."    
  
"Junior-"   
  
"Is  _ terrified _ of losing his father's business." Roman cut Summer off before she could continue. "His brother's just as afraid, but for different reasons. Not that he'd tell people out loud." He let out a quiet sigh. "Those two are banking on the tournament and the fact that they just got their rent changed to stay afloat."    
  
Summer hummed quietly, like there was something that she desperately wanted to be able to say to Roman that she couldn't quite voice. Roman couldn't really blame her for it. There weren't a lot of things about this that were so easy to talk about. "Do you regret it?" Summer asked him, finally, her voice far away.    
  
"Regret what?" Roman asked, not sure what she was trying to get at. There were a lot of possibilities for things that she was trying to ask him, but none of it was stuff that was so easy to talk about.    
  
"Taking this job." Summer finished. "You could have said no and referred them to someone else, and now you're carrying all of this stuff to worry about that you shouldn't have to.'" She shrugged slightly. "Do you regret it?"    
  
That was perhaps that hardest question that Roman had been asked over the entire course of his career. He'd made a decision on the spur of the moment, but there wasn't anything that he could solidly say that he  _ regretted _ . Things were bad now, but that wasn't to say that they weren't going to be getting better.    
  
He'd had a hard time with Junior, but they'd had enough fun that it had been worth it. Roman had made friends that he wanted to be able to stick by long after everything ended. He was sure that he was making his way into people's lives in ways that were meaningful.    
  
He didn't want to give that up for even a second.    
  
"I..." Roman couldn't help the hesitation that came as what he wanted to say danced on the tip of his tongue. There were thousands of emotions taht he had to sort through, and if it wasn't for the fact that he had to give some sort of answer for Summer right then and there, he was sure that he could have taken hours to figure things out. Even after hours, he was sure that he still wouldn't have had an actual answer for her. "I don't really know, Summer."    
  
He pursed his lips as he tried to think of what he wanted to say to Summer next. He knew that it was probably for the best that he explained himself to some degree. "It's just..." He began but had to stop himself as his insecurity about everything came back up. "I took this job because it would be a challenge, but now that I'm doing it I'm not sure how well I'm doing. I don't regret it- I've had a lot of interesting times with those guys, it's just..."    
  
"You signed onto something that was a bit more than you originally anticipated?"    
  
"Yeah." Roman answered. "That's it. I didn't know what I was signing up for, but I'm not going to turn around and stop what I'm doing or anything. I  _ want _ to help those guys. I've gotten to know them pretty well since going to work there."   
  
Summer shifted her position slightly and leaned back in her seat. "It's honorable for you to want to stick by them the way that you are." She paused, like there was something that she wanted to say to him of her own but couldn't quite get there. "I'm sure that they're glad for your help."    
  
"That's the thing, Summer." Roman span in his seat so that he could face Summer directly, though he doubted that she was going to turn around to face him herself. She was the responsible one that day, getting herself involved in her work instead of paying attention to him. "I'm not sure how much I'm actually helping. I've made them some ads and have helped clean up, but in the end I don't feel like I've done all that much for them."    
  
Instead of saying anything as an immediate response, Summer set down her paperwork so that she would have a little bit less to worry about while she spoke to Roman more directly. She turned in her seat and leaned back into it once she was facing him.    
  
The first thing that Roman realized was that her expression was deathly serious. He may have seriously messed up in saying that, but Roman wasn't quite sure how. He'd merely been stating what he considered to be facts.    
  
"Roman, those guys seem to love having you around." Summer said, her voice quite. "You and Junior are always spending time together, Taiyang thinks that you're great to have around, even Raven doesn't mind you being there." Roman supposed that Raven 'not minding' him was probably about the best that he could have hoped for.    
  
Roman shrugged, unsure of what he could say about these things. At the end of the day, he was able to offer friendship but he was more worried about what happened with Xiong's the business than what happened with its many patrons and employees.    
  
"I know that they like having me there." Roman said, knowing that he sounded completely exasperated by everything. "But I don't know how much good I've been doing for that business. That's what I'm afraid of, more than anything else." His voice dropped in volume and he dropped his gaze with it. "I want to offer them a chance at having a stable business but right now I don't feel like I've been able to do that."    
  
"I think you're doubting yourself too much about this, Pumpkin." Summer responded, her voice scarily even. "If they're not firing you, I think that means that you're doing well enough that they don't have any reason to push you away." She paused, like she was weighing what she wanted to say to him next carefully, if only because she was afraid of how Roman would respond to her words otherwise.

Roman supposed he could appreciate that from her. It wasn't something that she had to do.    
  
"Look," Summer began again. "I know that things aren't really ideal there right now. But they haven't done anything to push you away from them. Sometimes you just have to take that as what it is and accept that they don't mind having you around."    
  
Roman opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't find the words for it. He closed his mouth again and crossed his arms over his chest, in a position that was somewhat similar to him getting ready to hug himself and try to get comfort that way.    
  
Summer get up and crossed the room. Roman couldn't quite bring himself to stop her as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close in a hug. "I know, Roman." She whispered. "I know. You're hurting and you're doing your best. But I'm here for you, okay?"    
  
Gently, he set a hand down on top of one of hers and let his eyes drift shut as he relaxed into Summer's hug. "Thank you." He managed, his voice barely above a whisper in volume.    
  
He felt Summer press a gentle kiss to the top of his head. Roman didn't say anything or move to pull away from her. At that moment, he was mostly content to just stay there in her arms and accept what little comfort he could get from her. She understood him, after all. She knew that despite everything, all of his jokes and his confidence, he was lonely. Summer knew him better than anyone else.    
  
"Keep your chin up, Pumpkin." Summer whispered, rubbing his shoulders gently. "I know it's hard right now. But I know you, you're going to get through this, and you're going to be stronger for it."    
  
"You mean that?"    
__   
__ "Every word."    
  
Roman figured that was probably about the best he was going to get out of Summer at this point. If she really thought that he was going to make it through everything, then he supposed that he had to believe it.   
  
"Alright." He mumbled the word, knowing that he probably didn't sound like he was the most convinced or anything. His eyes closed for a second and he let out a quiet sigh. "Thanks, Summer."    
  
"Roman." Summer said quietly. "I mean it. You're going to make it through this for the better. You're stronger than you know."    
  
Roman let his eyes flutter open and then closed again and took his time to think of anything to say to her. The vote of confidence was nice, but Roman wasn't so sure about how far that was going to be able to bring him along. It was going to be hard, but he had to trust in the people around him.    
  
If Summer believed in him, then Roman figured that he could believe in what he was capable of as well.    
  
"Thank you, Summer." Roman reiterated. Finally, he brought his hands away from hers and made himself a little bit more comfortable at his desk. He closed his eyes. "I'm going to try and make it back into the gym sooner than later." Swallow. "You know, it's just a matter of making sure that I can do what there is left for me to do there."    
  
Roman still didn't really know how much there was that he was supposed to do- or what he thought he could do for that business, but he knew that the best thing he could do was just go ahead and be the best promoter that they'd ever have.    
  
There was still that nagging feeling at the back of his head that told him that he wasn't doing quite as well as he would have liked, but Roman had to do his best.    
  
He focused back on his work, and Summer slipped away from him.    
  
It wasn't easy concentrating for the rest of the day, but Roman managed to force it enough that he actually got everything done that he needed to before he was finally able to go home for the day. 


	41. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to talk. Again. This is a theme.

Junior and James ended up coming home late that night. 

For Junior, exhaustion had worked its way into his bones hours before. The day had been long and grueling- he'd spent almost the entire time in the ring with Taiyang, Raven, and even Peter. And then, on top of that, there were a few classes that he'd gotten roped into teaching which had only served to give him more to worry about and had only managed to wear him down further.

After a day like his, all that Junior wanted was a chance to be able to relax.

That wasn’t easy though- things at the apartment were still tense, but they were slowly getting better.

He and James approached the door, and James was the first one to open the door and step inside. Junior waited as James slipped out of his shoes beside the door before stepping in and getting out of his own shoes at the door. When he closed the door behind him, he realized that James had already gone to the kitchen and was getting things together so that the two of them could eat.

"Anything interesting?" Junior called as he stepped into the dining room and took a seat. He didn't want to end up crowding James in the kitchen, especially when James made a point not to do the same to him.

James was paused at the stove with a post it note in hand which he was reading over. "Your mother came over." He mumbled. "I guess she wanted to talk to..."

For the first time in a long time, James hesitated, and was so heavy and suffocating that Junior couldn’t help but to worry about his brother. It was like James was afraid to say whatever was on his mind because he didn't know what would happen if he didn't.

"James?"

"Us." James said, quietly, setting the note back down where he had found it. "Lin wanted to talk to us." Whatever James had been wanting to say, Junior was sure that it had died on his brother’s lips.

Junior watched his brother, unsure of whether he should step up and try to offer him some sort of comfort. It felt wrong to want to go ahead and make that offer when he didn't  _ know _ what was going on in James' head, but Junior didn't want to leave him out in the cold either. "Does it say what she wanted to talk to us about?"

James shook his head to the negative and let out a sigh, opening up the refrigerator in search of something that the two of them would be able to eat that night. "If she let us know, it's not on her note."

Junior nodded. He figured that he probably should have expected that sort of thing, at least on some level. "I'll be sure to call her later." He paused, realizing for a second that he might have had  _ some _ idea as to what was going on in James' head. Someone must have talked to him about this sort of thing. "Unless... you'd rather call her yourself?"

There was that hesitation again. James didn't say anything to him- just reached in and pulled out a couple of ingredients that he was going to be able to make dinner out of. James looked entirely too focused on the whole thing, and Junior didn't know whether or not it would be wrong for him to talk to James about it. He didn't want to leave the guy feeling more awkward than he had to. Maybe if family wasn’t a known toxic topic to James, it would have been different. 

"I'll think about it." James mumbled, quietly. "Noodles sound good to you?"

"Yeah." Junior answered, leaning back into his seat and hoping that his muscles would feel a bit better after a long day of several vigorous workouts after another. "Noodles sound great."

James nodded and stepped up to the pantry to get a box of uncooked pasta. There was a comfortable quiet in the room as James began to cook, and Junior found himself mostly content to just sit by and just watch as he worked. He had a lot on his mind himself, but Junior didn't want to go ahead and accidentally make things more uncomfortable for the two of them.

Together the two of them sank into a silence that Junior couldn’t quite call relaxed. He was fairly certain that he had accidentally found a way to make being in the same room as James for even a little while bearable, it was just uncomfortable. Awkward.

Even days after everything had first started happening, there was that tension that absolutely refused to release the two of them from its grip. There was an elephant in the room, and Junior knew that he and James were going to dance around it until something broke, or changed, or it became impossible for them to ignore it anymore.

And whatever had gone on with James in the last few days had somehow remained outside of Junior’s radar. It was hard to think about, scary even. But it had also been necessary so that Junior could take care of his own problems.

James’ voice broke Junior from his thoughts. “Have you talked to Taiyang about the tournament?” James asked him, quietly. “I know you spent most of the day working with him.”

“A little bit.” Junior answered, trying not to let his frown reach his voice at the realization that he and James were apparently going to be doing the thing where they used small talk as a substitute for the fact that they had to be around each other. It wasn’t as though this was something that they hadn’t done before, it was just annoying.

“He’s feeling nervous about the tournament.”

“I expected that.” James said, his eyes downturned as he set a wooden spoon down next to the pot of water that he was boiling for dinner. “Do you think he’s ready?”

That was probably the million dollar question, Junior found himself thinking to himself. He and James both knew very well that what things were like once someone actually got into a ring were going to be entirely different from  practicing. What Taiyang had been preparing with was nothing like real competition. It was too friendly- there was nothing at stake that they had to worry about.

It was  _ dangerous _ to go into the ring unprepared. Not because of the risk of injury, though that was a factor. Junior's main concern was the fact that losing on every front presented the possibility that the business would never be able to do any better than they already were. It wasn't fun to think about, and for Junior as the owner of a struggling business, it was actually kind of terrifying.

He didn't want to put that sort of pressure on anyone else, though. He didn't want his friends thinking that if they didn't win in a tournament, it meant that they'd failed Xiong's entirely and possibly even contributed in sinking it. That wasn't something that he would have wished on  _ anyone. _

"Yeah." Junior said, finally deciding that it was in his best interests to answer James' question. "I do think he's ready." He paused. "I don't think he feels like he is though."

James hummed quietly and reached into his pocket, thinking. Junior watched as James pulled out his phone and scrolled down a list of people. He had to take a minute to figure out what James could have possibly been thinking about, but soon he came to a realization that he might have known.

"Do you think we should invite him over?" James asked, keeping his voice down. "Treat him to dinner or something."

That hadn't been what Junior had been expecting to hear from James  _ at all _ . He'd been expecting for James to just be checking a message instead of actually thinking about inviting someone over to spend time with them. That wasn't how James was normally, Junior reminded himself.

Normally James was the one that didn't want people over, regardless of the reason.

"You know he'll want to bring Raven." Junior said, keeping his voice as level as possible as he gave James the gentle reminder of what would be ahead of the two of them should Taiyang show up. He knew that James and Raven were probably on rocky territory at the moment- not that James would ever actually admit to it.

"I know." James said quietly, finally setting his phone down at his side. "That's..." There was a pause. James stared off into space, like he couldn't quite find the words that he needed anymore. Like there was fear gripping him that James was never going to be able to admit to anyone.

Junior knew that James wouldn't say a word- not even to him. They'd known each other since they were preteens, and James still wouldn't share a lot of things with him. They were brothers- regardless of blood, and still that had changed nothing.

"Do you want her to be able to be here?" Junior asked, figuring that the best he could do for his brother was to just prompt him along. "Because if you don't want her to be here..."

James' eyes remained downturned, the same way that they'd been earlier on. He stared down into the pot of water, like he was hoping that it would start to boil sooner. Junior knew that this was just James trying to dance around things. "Look, you need to worry about making yo-"

James cut himself off again, this time mid-word. Normally James would never do that.

The man sucked in a deep breath to try and calm himself down, and Junior had no choice but to watch and wait in the hopes that James would be able to get his head together enough that he could finish and say what was actually going on in that head of his.

All at once, things began to piece together in Junior's head. This wasn't James trying to avoid him, or a topic. This was James trying to stop acting like he and Junior didn't have anything to do with each other aside from the fact that the two of them happened to live together.

This was his brother trying to act like they were a family, and not knowing how to do that. Like what happened with Junior actually affected him.

It had to be hard.

"I can invite him." Junior said, keeping his voice quiet. "If you want, I can ask that he doesn't bring Raven along." He paused for a moment. "But I'm not going to do it unless you tell me to."

James nodded, slowly. He didn't open his mouth to answer verbally- Junior supposed that was something that he probably should have expected, all things considered. James was probably forcing himself to be able to accommodate for others at the moment.

Junior stood up. "You take your time to think." He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, if only because he figured it was best if he drop his things off in his bedroom. The fact that he'd give James a little bit of space to breathe was definitely something that he'd considered.

He slipped out of the dining room and past the living room. It was a short walk to reach his bedroom, and once he was inside he just dropped his gym bag down beside his bed where it would be well out of the way.

A quick glance around the room reminded Junior of two things. First, there was the fact that he needed to go ahead and clean the room up desperately. He was probably a day from running out of clean socks. Second, there was the fact that once he and Roman had slept together in the bed and it had been comfortable.

It had felt  _ right _ , even.

Those were feelings that Junior didn't want to have to deal with at the moment. Or ever, really.

Things were hard enough as they already stood, after all.

The last thing that he needed at the moment was to pile whatever was going on between Roman and himself on top of everything else. Especially at a time where everything was shaky and unsure, and the two of them didn't seem to know what to make of each other anymore.

Having something to eat at the bar a few nights before had helped, but it hadn't quite been enough to calm the nervousness and the discomfort that came to everything attached to their relationship.

Junior just wanted things to be normal again, mostly.

But Junior also knew that he couldn’t just stay in his room and hide from everything. He couldn’t just pretend like he was helping anything by staying out of everyone else’s way while they tried to deal with the long list of things that were going wrong in all of their lives. If Junior wanted to, he was sure that he could have looked at every single friend he’d ever made and find something that was going horribly wrong in their life that wasn’t slowing down.

He and Roman were on the rocks in the weirdest way.

Raven missed her twin brother.

Taiyang’s confidence was suffering, even as he tried to court two women.

Summer was doing her best to be emotional support to a lot of people, by the looks of things.

James’ life had been a constant tide of heartache for the last three years, possibly even further back than that.

Qrow had been forced out of everyone’s lives almost overnight and had never quite been able to catch himself.

Everyone was hurting, Junior realized sadly.  _ Everyone was hurting _ and there was  _ absolutely nothing _ that he could do about it. He couldn’t help them. As things stood, all he could do was try and hope for the best.

It did nothing more than hurt him because he knew that he could have been doing better for all of his friends. They deserved better than what they’d been getting out of him, every last one of them.

He was going to have to do his best to make things better for everyone, across the board, Junior realized and decided then. Junior knew that he could do better. He’d done better a number of times before, and he wasn’t going to be able to pretend like there was nothing that he could do now.

Everyone was under a lot of stress to get things done. He was included in that, and he wasn’t going to go denying that fact.

But he couldn’t just stand around in his bedroom all day lingering on the things that had happened to him over the course of the last few weeks. He couldn’t stand around and think about Roman instead of go ahead looking for some sort of solution that he could use to make things better.

Regardless of everything.

Junior sucked in a deep breath and left his bedroom so that he could finally rejoin James. As expected, James was still there, looking like he had just added pasta to the pot of water that he’d been boiling and had somehow managed to find something that he wanted to do that could serve as some sort of solution for them.

"Make up your mind?" Junior asked, keeping his voice down as he leaned against the wall next to the entrance of the kitchen. He didn't want it to feel like he was pushing James to make a decision about things, but at the same time, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was accidentally doing so anyways.

James didn’t look up at him, instead staring ahead at the pot of boiling pasta that he had in front of him before finally making a decision.

“Yeah,” James said, his voice almost cracking halfway through. “Invite Tai. Tell him that he can bring Raven.”

That wasn’t all that James wanted to say. Junior could feel it deep in his bones that James had wanted to say something else to him but hadn’t quite been able to find the words for it just yet. As a result, Junior said nothing. Not until James confirmed that was all.

“...Junior?” James asked quietly, seemingly having picked up on the reason for Junior’s quiet. “Is something-”

“No.” Junior answered. “Just wanted to know if there was anything else.”

James let out a sigh- impossibly heavy. He didn’t say anything to Junior, just nodded. Finally, he managed to finish. “Tell…” Hesitation. “Tell Raven that she can bring Qrow if she promises to keep him in line.” Another pause. “And invite Roman.”

“James?”

“We have to fix things sometime, don’t we?”

Junior sighed. No matter how he cut it, James was right about this.

They had to fix things sometime.

So he slipped out of the kitchen with his phone and began to make a few calls.


	42. Socialized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinnertime.

The phone call from Junior with the invitation for him to come over had only come as a  _ minor  _ shock to Roman. 

When he'd gotten the call, he hadn't quite known what he had to look forward to or what to expect. When Junior and him had talked at the bar several nights prior, it had been awkward the entire time. It had been like there was something that Junior didn't want to say other than that he and James were inviting a bunch of people over and that he wanted for Roman to come.    
  
From what Roman understood, this was a case of James and Junior wanting to have people from the gym to come over for dinner as they got closer and closer to the tournament. Maybe to them it was a chance for them to build teamwork or something.    
  
Roman didn't know. All that he knew as he climbed into his car and set the bag of food that he'd gotten for that night down in the passenger's seat. He hadn't known what they were going to be making, other than the fact that James was apparently cooking everything.    
  
That on its own was something that Roman found slightly worrying- he’d never seen any evidence that James could even cook. Most of the time when he was around when James and Junior ate, it was James that tended not to even bother to touch his food for the entire time.    
  
It wasn't something that he normally wanted to read into, but he knew that James didn't know anything about his diet. As a result, he'd decided that it was a better idea for him to buy something before he went to the apartment so that he wouldn't end up feeling like he wasn't able to eat. He had a feeling that he might end up inadvertently stepping on some toes as a result, but that didn't feel like the most important thing. Not right then, at the least.    
  
Besides, he'd been able to pick up a bottle or two of wine so that he could at least play at being a good houseguest that night. Perhaps it would take a little bit of pressure off of James and Junior. At worst, wine could help them survive a night.    


Roman took a moment to check that everything in his car was in order before he put the vehicle in drive and began on the way out of the parking lot before they started on the way to the apartment.   
  
The entire drive there, Roman found himself worrying about a lot of things. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that the apartment was probably going to be packed with people. Usually it felt cramped at James and Junior’s apartment, but with a full house Roman was only _slightly_ concerned that it was going to be standing room only.   
  
But he couldn't let himself just concentrate on that sort of thing.   
  
The drive to the apartment felt a lot longer than it actually was. When Roman arrived, he was sure to send a message to let Junior know that he was there. A quick message let him know that he could just come right up, and that was it. Roman took a deep breath, grabbed the bag of food that he'd gotten, and then began on his way up.   
  
When Roman arrived at the apartment, he was able to come right inside. The first thing that he noticed was that everyone seemed to be in the living room straight ahead, aside from James who was in the kitchen alone, presumably because he felt more comfortable away from everyone else.   
  
"Hey." Roman said, stepping into the kitchen with the food that he'd brought along with him. "I brought some stuff."   
  
James looked at him and opened his mouth to say something but just clamped it back shut before gesturing to one of the counters. "Just set it there." He said quietly. "Thanks for coming."   
  
Roman followed James' directions and began to open up the bag that he'd brought along with him. The first thing that he did was remove the two bottles of wine that he'd brought with him before he set them down. Next, he pulled out a tray of vegetables and dip, a package of pita bread, and a container of Hummus. It wasn't much, but it was probably going to be suitable enough as snack food.   
  
"It's no problem." Roman answered James, doing his best to get rid of some of the awkwardness himself. "...Any reason you're hiding in here?"   
  
James looked to the doorway and sighed quietly before shrugging. "I figured it was best to let everyone enjoy themselves and stay out of the way." He shook his head and leaned against the counter next to him. "I'm not really the... socializing type. And someone has to watch the food anyways."   
  
"Yeah, I know." Roman said, smiling gently at James. "If you need anything, you can let me know, okay?"   
  
James sighed heavily and nodded before finally answering him. "Sure, Roman." he said, quietly. "I can do that."   
  
Roman nodded and slipped out of the kitchen before beginning on his way into the living room where Taiyang, Raven, and Junior were sitting around and talking about everything that was going on. The three of them all looked up at him, and for a moment Roman almost felt relieved to see them.   
  
Junior had this soft smile on his face, and that was more than enough to make Roman's heart jump in his chest. It was nice to see him so relaxed again.   
  
"Hey." Roman greeted everyone before looking around for a seat. He saw Junior shift slightly where he was sitting to offer a space, and Roman was soon to take it. "Thanks for inviting me."   
  
"It's no problem." Junior said, quietly. "We figured it was a chance to relax a bit again."   
  
"Yeah, for sure." Roman smiled softly before looking to see that Taiyang had leaned back into the couch a little too far, and that Raven was only looking slightly annoyed with the lack of space. "Hey."   
  
"Hi." Raven answered, sounding a bit more frustrated with things than she normally did. "Good seeing you."   
  
"You too."

"I love it when the gang's back together." Taiyang commented absentmindedly, stretching out enough that he actually ended up knocking against the table with his foot. He startled slightly and moved to sit up before deciding not to. Roman smiled and looked over at Roman. "Hey Ro."   
  
"Hey." Roman said quietly, knowing that he'd furrowed his brow at some point. What did Taiyang mean by 'getting the gang back together?' Roman was pretty sure that he wasn't part of the group in any real capacity other than the fact that he was occasionally around Xiong's.   
  
If they were including him in the group, then he was sure that they would have invited Summer along as well. At least, that was assuming that they actually had contact with her, and it was entirely possible that he and Taiyang were the only ones that would be able to make contact.   
  
Almost on cue, there was the sound of the bathroom door opening, which meant that there was someone there that Roman didn't know. There was the sound of someone padding out into the living room, and Roman looked up to see Qrow standing there, in a dark grey shirt and jeans and looking a little more than just tired.   
  
"Hey there Red." Qrow greeted Roman tauntingly before walking around the back of the couch and leaning forward over his sister's head so that he could grab a few chips out of a bag.   
  
Raven looked up at him. "Do you need something?"   
  
Qrow hummed and popped the first chip into his mouth. "Got what I needed." With that, Qrow slipped off to the kitchen, and the living room once again felt normal. Roman couldn't help but wonder what Qrow was doing there, or rather, who had invited him along for things.   
  
Taiyang smiled and patted Raven's leg for a moment. "I love having the gang back together."   
  
Raven rolled her eyes and responded by just eating a chip as nonchalantly as she could manage.   
  
At Roman's side, Junior shifted slightly and spoke up, though he kept his volume down, probably with good reason for it. "So, Roman." He said quietly. "I tried to tell James about your diet and stuff-"   
  
Roman blinked and couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed by things. "I brought some stuff anyways." He said, just as quietly as Junior was. "Thank you for thinking about it though."  
  
Junior shrugged. "I figured it was the least that I could do, you know?"   
  
That left Roman feeling a little bit warmer than he probably should have. There was some comfort that could easily be taken in this. If Junior was doing his best to make sure that he was looked after, then it probably meant that he and Junior were on at least somewhat decent terms.   
  
Small victories.   
  
"Well," Roman said, sitting up straight and leaning back into the seat that he was in to make himself feel more comfortable. "Let me tell you, it's about the sweetest thing that anyone's done for me in a long time."   
  
It would have taken a fool to notice the way that Junior's face flushed over that comment. If there was anyone in the world that was even remotely similar to being a true gentle giant, it had to be Junior. The man was nothing but sweetness, Roman thought.   
  
For better or for worse.   
  
Taiyang squirmed where he was sitting and looked over at Roman. "Hey, so Roman?" He asked quietly. "Do you think Summer would be able to come along for this?"   
  
Roman couldn't pretend like he wasn't thinking that wasn't going to end up as a question that Taiyang asked at some point. His eyes flickered over to Raven, who didn't seemed to be phased by Taiyang's question whatsoever. "You'd have to call her." Roman responded to Taiyang, hoping that would be enough that there'd be something to make it less weird. 

He didn't want to accidentally end up inviting people who weren't supposed to be there.   
  
At his side, Junior sighed quietly and looked over at Taiyang and Raven. "If you two want to invite someone else, go talk to the cook."   
  
"The cook's a jerk." Taiyang muttered, but it almost sounded playful rather than malicious. Roman supposed that Taiyang wasn't wrong- James wasn't exactly the _nicest_ person in the world on a good day, but he had his good spots. His good moments.   
  
"Yeah, he is." Junior admitted before nodding in the direction of the kitchen. "Go talk to the jerk."   
  
Taiyang rolled his eyes and got up before going on his way to the kitchen.   
  
At Roman's side, Junior didn't seem to be doing so well as far as his nerves went. His fingers were drumming against his knee enough that it sounded anxious, and Roman couldn't help but to give the man a gentle nudge to see whether or not he could offer Junior some small amount of comfort.   
  
"Hey." He said, keeping his voice as low as he could manage. "Are you alright?"   
  
"Yeah." Junior answered, keeping his voice as even as he could manage. "Just a little bit nervous is all."   
  
Roman blinked. He was nervous too, but he hadn't bothered to bring it up to anyone. He had to wonder how much of that had to do with the fact that Junior was socially awkward on a good day, and the fact that the two of them were already getting along poorly. They'd worked things out to some degree, but it wasn't enough to make everything alright.   
  
"I'm sorry." Roman answered Junior, doing his best to match the man's volume. "Do you think you want some air-"   
  
"Nah." Junior answered, forcing a smile of sorts. "I mostly just want to stick around with everyone else that's here for a little while." He blinked. "Besides, we're all friends here, right?"   
  
Roman's eyes flicked to Raven, and then over at the door to the kitchen for a moment as he tried to figure out whether or not that felt accurate to say. Qrow wasn't someone that he was sure could be called a friend to anyone...  
  
But he also knew for a fact that he had a lot less context on things than everyone else did.   
  
"Yeah." Roman finally said, locking his eyes with Junior's and staring into the man's soft grey for just a moment. "Thank you for inviting me along."   
  
Junior chuckled quietly. "It was James' idea."  
  
Roman blinked, feeling a significant amount of surprise at that newest revelation. It hadn't been something that he could say that he was expecting, especially with what had been going on between himself and James in their last proper meeting. They'd been practically at odds, and it had been James that wanted him there for the dinner?   
  
"That's..."   
  
Junior looked around warily and leaned in towards Roman. "He really just wants to fix things between everyone." He answered. Roman watched Junior pick his head up and cast a glance around the room before patting Roman's knee for a moment. "C'mon."   
  
"What?"   
  
"I want to talk to you." Junior answered, standing up and offering Roman his hand so that he could help him up. "C'mon."   
  
Roman paused, a little bit unsure of what was going to happen from this, but it was a small comfort. A chance for them to deal with everything that was going on at the moment. He closed his eyes and nodded before reaching out and taking Junior's hand.   
  
Nobody was looking at him. That was a good thing.   
  
He and Junior slipped out of the living room and into Junior's room where the door closed as soon as both of them were inside.   
  
It was probably going to be awkward, Roman thought, but he also was pretty sure that whatever happened next was going to be a matter of just talking. The odds that the two of them were going to end up in a situation like what had happened between him and Junior in the closet. In this room, the quarters weren't so close that he was going to feel afraid of everything that could possibly be going on between them.   
  
Junior gestured to the bed, though it was kind of awkward. "Do you want to sit down?" He asked, his voice a little more meek than it strictly needed to be. "Don't feel like you have to-"   
  
"I'd like that." Roman responded, deciding that the best thing he could do was make sure that Junior wasn't going to end up feeling too uncomfortable. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, and then Junior joined him quickly, though when he did so it was a little too stiff and uncomfortable.   
  
"So," Junior began, shrugging slightly. "You decided to come out for this, huh?"   


"I didn't want to turn down the invitation." Roman answered with a slight shrug. It wasn't the most uncomfortable feeling that he'd ever had, but he needed to talk to Junior about what was going on. "What's going on?"    
  
"Just have had a lot on my mind." Junior answered, his voice still low. "It's not your fault, Roman." The tall man picked his head up and looked up at Roman, locking their eyes together. "It was just the talk the other night made it feel like there was still a lot of stuff that we had to resolve, you know."    
  
Roman hummed, pretty sure that he knew exactly where this was going to go. "Yeah," Roman admitted, knowing that sadness was tinting his voice. "It did, for sure." He paused and sucked in on his teeth for just a moment before deciding to continue. "I still like you, Junior." He mumbled quietly. "Nothing's changed for me if you want to keep doing what we were doing."    
  
Junior stared straight ahead with an expression that Roman could only really describe as being either dumbstruck or being completely caught off guard. Not that Roman could really blame the guy for that sort of feeling. There had been a lot going on lately.    
  
"You really mean that?" Junior finally asked, sounding a little bit like his voice had been taken away for a moment. "I figured that after everything there was going to be..." Pause. "I thought that it wasn't going to be fixable."    
  
Roman nodded, understanding Junior's predicament completely. The two of them were going to have a discussion of what was actually for the best for their relationship if they were going to go forward. Roman was pretty sure that he couldn't go ahead and justify dating Junior until at least after the tournament.    
  
They'd already thrown enough off as a result of their foolishness. There was nothing worth throwing their business away over the fact that the two of them wanted to enjoy their time together.    
  
"I think it is." Roman said quietly. "But it's going to take a lot of work, you know?"    
  
Roman paused, just hoping that there was going to be any sort of reaction from Junior that could help the two of them to start putting things together and making things work. He'd laid everything out on the table that he was sure had needed to be put out and stated explicitly. Now it was just a matter of making things happen.   
  
"I know." Junior said, his voice quiet. "I'm willing to make this work though." He finished, blinking and looking back at the door over his shoulder. Probably just checking to make sure that the two of them didn't find themselves in an awkward situation or being interrupted.    
  
So that was it then, Roman thought to himself. It was all there- they were both willing to try and work to make this all work, and now it was just going to be a matter of making that happen.    
  
He stepped in close to Junior, knowing that he wasn't going to be getting much comfort out of it. Carefully, Roman lifted a hand and placed it on Junior's shoulder in a manner that was impossibly light and uneasy. Junior didn't shy away from him at all.    
  
"Junior?"    
  
The giant didn't respond. He lifted a hand just as carefully and placed it on Roman's side, pulling him in close carefully. Roman didn't protest, just let himself sink into Junior's touch. THis was about the most comfortable that he'd felt in a little while.    
  
"I'm just glad that we can do this." Junior said, keeping his voice soft as Roman relaxed against him, even letting himself rest his head against Junior's shoulder. "I like you too much, Ro."    
  
"I know." Roman said, trailing a finger over Junior's collarbone for a moment. "I feel the same way."    
  
Junior hummed quietly. "We should rejoin the others."   
  
Despite the fact that Roman didn't want to admit it, Junior was beyond right about everything. They did have to get back to everyone sometime- it was going to be a matter of making sure that they never got speculated on too heavily in ways that made them both a little too uncomfortable.    
  
Roman closed his eyes and took a moment to relish in Junior's warmth before he finally pulled away and pushed his orange hair back out of his face. The two of them took a minute to get back in order, and then they made their way back to the living room so that they could enjoy everyone else's company along with their own.    



	43. Pep Rally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a full house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! Life got busy. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it anyways <3

Barely an hour after the time that he had spent alone with Roman had ended, Junior found himself being called into the kitchen by his brother. 

The apartment was packed with people- more full than it had been in a very long time. As it turned out, the food was ready. That meant that it was up to Junior to make sure that they had enough in the way of plates and silverware to feed everyone.

That wasn't even to mention the fact that James wanted for him to make sure that the kitchen didn't end up flooded with people once everything was done. A veritable feast had been prepared, largely from potluck, but James didn't want to get too overwhelmed once everything was done. Junior couldn’t blame him for it.

"How much longer?" Junior asked as he watched James pick up a pot and move it out of the way. Junior was pretty sure that whatever was inside was going to be delicious. He knew for a fact that James cooked with a mix of family recipes that he'd picked up from a lot of people and places.

It meant that when James wanted to be, he could be a  _ very _ good cook. The only problem was that James usually didn’t have the time to actually cook.

"About five minutes." James said quietly as he looked over and locked eyes with Junior. "I don't know that we have bee-"

"We have enough beer for everyone." Junior reassured James. "And if we don't, we'll send someone to get some." He reached for the roll of paper towels that the two of them kept. He was going to have to set it on the dining room table and hope that they still had some afterwards for the cleanup.

"Right." James mumbled, quietly. For a second, Junior was sure that he'd seen James' gaze flick out of the kitchen like he was kind of afraid of what was going to happen that night. Junior personally didn't know what James was so afraid of, but he couldn't judge the guy. It wasn't everyday that the two of them had guests over, especially not so many of them.

Especially not like this where they were inviting over nearly everyone that the two of them were friends with at once. If it was just one or two people it would have been one thing, but this was Roman, Tai, Summer, Raven,  _ and  _ Qrow. It was a full house, with a lot of tension that they had to worry about.

Junior knew that he could take some comfort in the fact that he and Roman had patched things up to some degree. The impromptu cuddle session had eased a lot of his concerns.

But that didn't help with everything else. In the end, that was something that was only going to be helping him and Roman instead of everyone else.

"Think they'll like everything?" Junior asked, just trying to give his brother some sort of comfort in the whole situation. "And that we'll have enough?"

"We have enough food." James reassured Junior. "I’m just worried about them wanting it.” 

"It'll be fine." Junior said, keeping his voice low. "Just worry about getting everything together and out of the oven."

James nodded and gave Junior a look. "Don't you have something to be doing?"

Junior couldn't help the smile. He shook his head and got a handful of forks and knives and set them on the plates before going into the dining room and laying everything out for everyone to eat.

He took his time, and once he knew that James was ready for people to come and get their food, Junior announced that dinner was ready.

The others were nice enough to come through two people at a time- although it definitely wasn't organized. James got his food first and slipped out of the kitchen, and Junior had almost expected for his brother to slide off to somewhere else where he couldn't be bothered while he ate. But to his surprise, James took a seat in the living room on the far left side of the couch so that someone couldn't make their way to his right.

It was a surprise, but a nice one. 

Summer, Tai, and Raven all decided that they wanted to sit on the floor around the coffee table, and Roman seemed content to just sit with Junior wherever he ended up sitting.

As for Qrow, he seated himself next to James on the couch and stabbed into his food greedily.

For just a moment, James and Junior exchanged a look, and Junior just nodded, realizing what was being said there silently. Once everyone was done eating, James wanted for him to get up and talk to the room about what they had coming up and give thanks for everything.

This was something that Junior had done probably a hundred times before, but it was always different. Usually it was in the moment pep talks that didn't do much of anything to comfort anyone. Not like this, when they had a tournament to look forward to at the end of the week and an active opponent in the room.

Junior grimaced and let his gaze flicker over to Qrow for just a moment. That was going to be something that he was going to have to be able to work around. He wanted to wish the guy luck in the tournament, but that was hard when they had Taiyang there too. Maybe the best he could do was make an offer for Qrow to switch gyms at the last possible second and have him represent them instead.

Not that he thought James would accept it.

For the most part, Junior had to go over it in a way that allowed for him to make an itemized list of sorts.

He'd have to start with letting everyone know that he was glad to have them there. He'd have to thank Roman for all of the help that he'd given them lately, then he'd have to be sure to thank everyone who was going to be boxing for them at the end of the week. When he thanked James, it was going to have to be in the manner of thanking him as a  _ coach _ .

It was a lot of work for him to worry about. It meant that he was going to have to hope that it was going to be enough to comfort everyone.

After that, he should probably go ahead and just figure out what sort of schedule he wanted to put them all on for the rest of the week. There wasn't going to be a second where he wasn't able to be training all of them. In theory, James was probably doing that already, but Junior couldn’t be too sure. He couldn’t get comfortable. 

He wasn't going to need Roman around for the training, but the guy could show up as moral support-

Junior was interrupted from his thoughts by the feeling of someone nudging his elbow. He straightened up slightly and looked over to see that Roman was there, their legs almost touching thigh to thigh.

"Hey, Junior." Roman said quietly. "Something wrong?"

"What?"

"You haven't been eating." Roman clarified, his eyes flickering down to the plate that Junior had with him. "I was just-"

"I'm fine." Junior answered, giving Roman a weak smile in hopes that it was going to be enough to assuage some of his worries. Junior seriously doubted that it was going to be enough, but he had to help that it was going to be enough.

"Are you?"

"Just have things to do after everyone's eaten." Junior explained himself, hopeful that was going to be enough. "You know like a..." He swallowed. "Pep talk sort of thing."

Roman nodded slowly. "I see."

That meant that it wasn't a good enough reason, Junior found himself thinking as he watched Roman closely. The guy was clearly worried, but Junior didn't want to just end up making things even harder than it could have been.

"Look," Junior swallowed and forced a smile. "Everything's fine. Promise."

Roman sighed quietly and shrugged before going back to his meal. Junior wanted to be able to do something else to offer the guy some sort of comfort, but he couldn't do that right now. Not when there was still some awkwardness around the room and the group that people hadn't quite wanted to go ahead and deal with quite yet.

After that, Junior just decided that the best he could do was let himself focus in on what he was eating instead of the buzzing in his head. After everyone had eaten, that was going to be when it was time for Junior to give some sort of game plan to everyone.

The good part of things was that the food was as good as James had been hoping. Good food meant that it was just easier for Junior to focus on what he had on his plate than the worries and thoughts that felt like they were constantly flitting through his mind and making it impossible for him to be able to concentrate.

The first to finish eating was Roman, which didn't surprise Junior at all since the guy seemed to eat like a bird anyways. Junior knew that James had finished eating when he heard the sound of plates being washed off in the kitchen. Taiyang, Raven, and Summer finished their meals, and then Junior came to just accept that he was going to have to stand up and command the attention of the room.

Not ideal, but the benefit of being just under seven feet tall was that it wasn't hard for him to get people's attention when he needed it.

He gave everyone a bit of time to relax and talk before he got up to talk to everyone. It was probably for the best that he just gave people a chance to decompress and breathe anyways.

After fifteen minutes, Junior stood up and went to the entrance of the dining room, where Qrow was still sitting. James was still in the kitchen washing dishes instead of socializing.

"Hey." Junior said, getting Qrow's attention onto him. "Mind going to the living room?"

Qrow blinked and raised an eyebrow, looking a little bit like he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know about what Junior needed from him. "Something-"

"Just want to talk to everyone." Junior answered. Qrow shrugged and got up before going into the living room. When he heard the sound of Qrow greeting Taiyang with a taunt, Junior couldn't help the roll of his eyes. With Qrow out of the way, Junior was able to slip out of the dining room and into the kitchen.

James looked up at him the second that he realized that he was there. "Something wrong?"

"I wanted to talk to everyone about Friday." Junior explained himself. "Mind joining us for that?"

He watched James hesitate as he set down the plate that he had in his hand. The silver hand that was James' right was exposed, and Junior knew that James was going to want a minute to hide that back away before he joined people.

"Yeah." JAmes finally said, quietly. "I'll be there." He paused with a deep breath. "No problem."

Junior frowned. It could have been a lot worse, but the hesitation that James had was still something that bothered him. His brother would be fine, he told himself. He was going to be fine, and that was going to be it.

He slipped back out to the living room and seated himself, just for the little while since he was sure he was going to have a minute to wait before James showed up anyways.

Not ideal, but Junior could deal with this sort of thing.

It wasn't like he'd never dealt with it before, after all.

It would be several minutes before James rejoined the rest of the group, looking a bit more confident but hanging towards the back where he could be out of the way. Junior needed one last minute so that he could swallow his nerves before he finally stood up and decided to just make things happen now.

“Hello.” Junior said as he walked up to the front of the room and in front of the television, which was playing some weird show that Taiyang had chosen. With one motion, he reached back and turned the television off, only because it meant that there were going to be no distractions. “Can I have everyone’s attention for a moment?”

All at once, a sea of heads turned and faced him some looking a little more interested than others did. That was fine- Junior couldn’t exactly pretend as though he hadn’t been expecting for that sort of thing to happen.

This was normal. This was part of what his job called for, Junior reminded himself.

Once he felt satisfied that he had everyone’s attention, Junior decided to speak.

“So as all of you know, we’ve got a tournament coming up.” he said plainly, hoping that he was going to be able to keep everyone’s attention. “And I wanted to have you guys all over so that we could have one nice meal and enjoy each other’s company before it was time that you all go to compete.”

For a second, he let his gaze flick over to Qrow, who had decided to settle against the back wall next to James. He caught the way that the man scowled slightly, and couldn’t help to frown for a moment himself over it. He knew that was going to happen, and he still didn't’ feel great about it.

Junior forced himself to tear his eyes away from Qrow and focused back on the others instead. He wasn’t exactly the best public speaker in the world, and he was sure that it showed.

He swallowed and went on with his miniature speech. “...And I just wanted to thank all of you for the help that you’ve given and for everything that you’ve done over the last year to help keep the gym running.” Junior balled his hands into fists at his sides in some hope that he’d be able to find comfort there. “I can never really thank any of you enough.”

Junior sucked in a deep breath because he was sure that he was going to need to be able to calm himself down just enough to make this work. He had to keep going and make sure that he'd spoken to everyone in the room and thanked them for their help. Every single one.

He decided to start with the first person that his eyes landed on.

"Raven." He began, watching the black haired woman shift slightly and narrow her eyes like she didn't quite know what was going to come next. "Thank you so much for helping around the gym, and for being there, and being on our posters and being willing to train with everyone. I sincerely think that you're going to win your division and if you think that you won't-" Junior paused, knowing that he was probably starting to get a little too personal in what he was talking about. "You're going to do great things for us. Just know that I believe in you."

Raven didn't open her mouth to say anything, and that was something that Junior could sincerely say that he was glad for. He didn't want to be getting caught up on one person when he had a roomful of people to talk to and deal with. One at a time, Junior reminded himself as he felt his hands beginning to shake.

He forced them back down into his pockets so that he could at least hide some of it.

The next person that his eyes fell on was Taiyang. Junior had to turn his body just a bit so that he could face his friend more directly, but that was fine. That was something that Junior could deal with, regardless of everything.

"And Tai-" He swallowed as he wracked his mind for the right words. "You've been amazing the last month and I've been seeing you get better at what you do every single time that you're in the ring. I'm sorry that the poster is what it is, but you're amazing and we couldn't do anything that we do without you." He had to choke back a laugh. "I don't even mind that it was you that decided to install the speed bags in all of the doorways for a week. You've gotten so much better as a boxer-"

Junior saw Taiyang getting ready to open his mouth to say something, and just raised a hand so that he could cut the man off, but decided against it. He dropped it back to his side and slipped his hand back into his pocket so that he wasn't drawing too much attention to himself. Maybe it was for the best that he let Tai speak for a moment, maybe he had something good to say.

"You really mean all of that, Junior?" Taiyang asked, his eyes looking a little bit more watery than they probably should have been. Junior couldn't help but to smirk when he saw that- he supposed that he probably should have expected for Taiyang to tear up a little bit over what was being said. "That I'm-"

"Yeah." Junior answered his friend. "I really do. I think that you're going to go to that tournament, and you're going to fight better than you've ever fought before." He took a moment to pause and just breathe- he needed it. "I think that you're going to do a lot to make this gym look like a place to be and I just need for you to know that no matter what, I am  _ proud _ of you, Taiyang." Junior paused again. "I mean it."

He saw Taiyang squirm slightly in his seat, like he wanted to get up and move to give him a hug. Junior had expected that. That was fine. That was something that he was going to have to deal with once this was all over. He had a feeling that he was going to have a lot of hugs to hand out once everything was all said and done.

That was fine though, Junior reminded himself. He was used to having to hand out hugs to everyone that he’d become friends with. There was a reason that a lot of them liked to call him Teddy as opposed to anything else.

But this wasn't done yet. He wasn't done yet. There were still people in the room that Junior desperately needed to address, even if he didn't quite know how to do so. He swallowed and let his eyes fall on James, who was still standing awkwardly against the back.

His brother raised a hand to try and stop Junior from drawing any attention to him, but Junior decided that he didn't want to listen to James. Not right now, when he was trying to go ahead and make the entire room feel like they were welcome there and like they had been doing plenty to help make everything better.

"James." Junior finally said, earning a death glare from the other man that he couldn't pretend that he hadn't expected on any level. "I want to thank you for all of the help that you've given to everyone in helping to train them for the tournament." He paused. "Without you, this whole thing would be a complete mess. Thank you for keeping the rest of us in line."

That actually earned a laugh from the room, and Junior smirked when he realized that James' ears had gone pink in embarrassment. "Even if you're a jerk about it, you really do a lot to make things work around the gym." Junior paused. There was something else that he desperately wanted to go ahead and say, but he couldn't quite bring himself there. He wanted to address their relationship, the fact that the two of them were brothers and that he knew that James didn't let himself feel things as intensely as he could. That he knew that the loss of their father was hurting James too.

"I just..." Junior swallowed and locked his eyes with his brother's. "Thank you. I know I probably shouldn't be thanking you on account of us being family, but I want to thank you for everything anyways."

He heard James sigh quietly, and actually saw James pushed off of the walk to take the first few steps forward like he was actually considering joining Junior at the front of the room so that he could offer some sort of comfort.

"Thank you, Junior." James said quietly, giving him permission to move on.

God, that meant that Junior didn't even know who to talk to next. Or what to address. His gaze fell on Summer, and then on Roman, and everything else pieced together all at once in his head.

"And lastly I wanted to thank Roman and Summer." Junior stared into Roman's eyes as he said the words. It was probably a little bit much, but this was something that he needed to say. He couldn't just let this go. "You two may not be official members of Team Xiong on account of boxing, but you two have done so much to help us look like a real  _ competent _ business."

Roman was shifting in his seat, looking like he had something that he wanted to say, but Junior didn't immediately trust anything that Roman would have to say. Mostly because he couldn't be sure that whatever he got wasn't going to end up being some sort of weird sex joke that he couldn't quite get past or ignore.

"You two have just helped a lot. And you haven't just helped me, I'm just so glad that Roman was willing to take our call even though we are about the exact opposite of what he normally does and works on."

With those words, Junior saw Roman's jade eyes go all soft and gentle, and he couldn't help but to smile. He was doing things right. This was going well.

In fact, it was going surprisingly well. It felt like he was actually able to make some sort of impact on the room, and in that moment and to Junior, that was the single most important thing.

"I am just..." He swallowed, tearing his eyes away from Roman so that he could go ahead and just address the entire room. Every single member of team Xiong. "I'm just so proud of all of you,. and I just realized how lucky we are to be able to be like this as a team."

He swallowed. He still had things that he needed to go ahead and say, and he wasn't about to go ahead and let them slip by. He was almost done, Junior reminded himself before deciding to just work towards a finish.

"The tournament is this weekend, and I am honored to have all of you on Team Xiong." Junior paused and his gaze travelled to Qrow, who was still sitting at the back of the room. "And Qrow, I know that you aren't technically a part of team Xiong, but I want to wish you luck at the tournament too." He paused, swallowing back any nerves. "You're good at what you do, and I hope you can go well."

"Just not any further than me!" Taiyang exclaimed, earning another laugh from the room. At the back, Qrow just waved a hand nonchalantly to brush all of the concerns that were coming his way.

"Thanks, Junior." Qrow said with a slight smirk. "Means a lot."

Junior was about to open his mouth to say something else, but when he tried to find the words, nothing came. He might have actually just said everything that he needed to say. That just left him standing awkwardly at the front of the room.

He saw James sigh and finally move the rest of the way to the front of the room to take over the position that Junior had taken and turn to face the rest of the room.

"Thank you for that, Junior." James said calmly before looking around the room and beginning to put together something in his head all at once. Junior didn't quite know what James was about to say, but all at once it began to came together.

"Since I'm apparently the coach." James joked as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the room, "then I suppose that I should let you know that it's about time that you all be thinking about what happens once this week starts."

A groan escaped Taiyang.

Ah, so _ that _ was what James was doing.

Junior knew that he could count on him.

"For the upcoming week, training will be mandatory and  _ daily _ . Three hours per person minimum. We'll be closing open gym at eight at night, and after that you will be free to stay until midnight."

"Will you be training us, coach?" Taiyang asked, leaning in and watching James.

"Sure." James answered before looking over at Junior. "Though I'm sure I won't be alone in that effort."

"Well," Raven began. "Eight pm sounds doable to me for the practices. I'll be there."

"I guess if Rae's going to be there, so will I." Taiyang said with a slight shrug. Junior watched James nod, and the way that he locked his eyes with Qrow at the back of the room. It was only for a second and it got ripped away rather quickly like there was just something that James was afraid to go ahead and voice. "So tomorrow night?"

"That is correct." James answered with a nod. "I hope to see you all there."

"We'll be there!" Taiyang answered.

Since things were getting awkward, Junior took the chance to edge his way in back next to James. "I think that's everything?"

James nodded his agreement.

Junior blinked and looked out at the rest of the room. "Yeah, so you guys can just enjoy yourselves until you want to go home for the night."

His eyes fell on Roman, and he couldn't help the smile that came to his face. There was no stopping it, really. "We're happy to have you."

With that, the miniature meeting that they'd set up began to disperse, and Junior watched as James slipped back off to the kitchen. He was going to want to talk to James about things later, but as of right then, he didn't want to make his brother too uncomfortable.

Soon, though.

So Junior spent the rest of the night spending one on one time with other people in the group. He'd go from talking to and reassuring Taiyang, to talking to Raven about what little he did know about her category, to being thanked by Summer for such a lovely evening there.

By the time that people began to filter out, Junior was certain that he was ready to drop, and he was sure that James was probably close to the end of his nerves before he finally gave up on everything that was going on and went to bed without a word to anyone.

Lucky for them, Taiyang, Summer, and Raven all left together.

Roman decided to hang around a bit late, and Junior figured that Qrow and James were probably trying to just polish off a few drinks before Qrow got a cab called for him to take him home and James went to bed.

It wasn't his business.

Junior seated himself on the couch next to Roman and nudged his friend gently. "Do you think that you might want to stay the night?" Junior asked Roman quietly.

Roman stared at him and didn't answer initially. Like he didn't want to risk accidentally breaking some sort of unspoken boundary that existed between the two of them and just made everything awkward.

After a long moment, he just nodded.

Junior sent James a quick text asking if overnight company was fine, and got a reply that was just a simple yes.

That settled it.

Roman was going to be spending the night there with Junior for the second time since the two of them had first met.


	44. Slumber Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eventually you get to a high enough level to unlock someone's backstory.

"You know," Roman joked with a wide smile as he flopped down onto the bed next to Junior, his face cleared of makeup and dressed in a pair of black pajama pants and a simple t shirt that fit his body a little too well, despite having been borrowed from James. "I have always  _ loved _ sleepovers."    
  
At his side, Junior was already resting, looking comfortable and ready to sleep with tired eyes that made him look like he just needed to curl up and hibernate if he was ever going to be happy.    
  
"Have you now?" Junior asked, exhaustion on his voice. "Because I  _ never _ would have figured."    
  
Roman hummed and watched Junior before he finally sank down into the bed next to the much larger man and curled in close against him. "Yeah." He said, smiling widely. "The feeling of getting to be with someone else that you like, and the bad food, and talking even though you're supposed to be asleep-" Roman let out a slight sigh as he stretched himself out and made himself comfortable there beside Junior. "It's nice."    
  
At his side, Junior shifted slightly, if only because he probably wasn't used to having other people there in the same bed as him normally. He closed his eyes and sighed before curling in against Roman, just as carefully as Junior had ever done anything else. "I never did much of that stuff, I guess." He admitted quietly. "Or sleepovers for that matter." 

Roman quirked an eyebrow, unsure of how he was supposed to read into that comment from Junior. Was it because having a brother was like having sleepovers all the time, or was it because of the fact that Junior was too much of an awkward mess to be able to go ahead and have sleepovers normally?   
  
"Really?" Roman asked, keeping his voice low. "Because I would have figured that you used to get invited to people's houses all the time." He smiled widely and rested his chin on Junior's shoulder.    
  
Junior let out a laugh, and it was enough to make Roman's smile get a bit wider. He hadn't been expecting to see that sort of thing from Junior that night, but Roman's jokes were just as playful as ever, without straying into uncomfortable territory that Junior wasn't so sure that he quite wanted to stray into with the other man just yet.    
  
And the thing was, Roman was sure that he could just deal with whatever was going on with Junior. He was sure that he could just relax and go ahead and make his jokes. As long as neither of them were feeling upset by these things or getting uncomfortable, it meant that there was no harm being done, and so Roman could be happy with the situation.    
  
"So?" Roman joked again. "No sleepovers." 

Junior shifted slightly so that he could face Roman more directly. The two of them were lying face to face, even though Junior had a number of inches on Roman. For Roman it was nice, because it was the first time where he got to talk to Junior and there wasn't anything weird about it. He didn't feel like he had to look up to the other man to be able to communicate, and that was nice.    
  
"They were just never really my thing." Junior admitted. "And my family was weird because once I was ten or so I was getting up early to go help my dad open the gym every morning." He shrugged. "It meant that I would get a morning workout, but friends didn't like getting woken up at six in the morning, you know?"    
  
That... was interesting, Roman thought to himself. It was something that he certainly hadn't been considering at any point, and he was mostly just interested to hear about Junior's childhood. He knew that he himself had a lot of stories that he should have gone ahead and told at some time, if only because he was going to be able to get the two of them feeling a bit more like they were on even ground if he did so.    
  
There were a lot of things that he hadn't told Junior. Roman knew that, and he did actually feel kind of bad for it.   
  
"Well." Roman tilted his head back slightly so that he could stare into Junior's eyes while he gave his rebuttal. "I can tell you that I wouldn't have minded getting up at six in the morning."    


Junior shook his head and laughed, a blush rising on his cheeks as he did so. Roman smirked, if only because that meant that he was actually getting ahead in this conversation and making some sort of impact when it came to Junior. "In fact," Roman said with a small quirk of his lips as the mood of the conversation began to shift inside him to something much sadder. "I think I would have been glad to have a sleepover with you at all."    
  
The room went silent at that, and Roman couldn't pretend as though that wasn't something that he'd been expecting. There weren't usually easy ways to introduce such parts of the discussion, but this was something that Roman wanted to talk about. He needed to talk about it. He couldn't keep on going with things feeling so uneven between him and Junior all because of the fact that he hadn't talked about himself much at all.    
  
"What do you mean?" Junior asked, blinking. "I know you were in the system but..."    
  
"I was never really lucky enough to end up in a home with a family that would let me do that." Roman began to explain himself, not bothering to pull his gaze away from Junior the entire time. "In fact, I was in a group home for most of my life. Every night was technically a sleepover but I couldn't really make it feel that way. It wasn't normal stuff. Too much bullshit between everyone else in the house, not enough room, that sort of thing.”     
  
"But you said you like sleepovers." Junior said, blinking slowly. "How-"    
  
"Would you believe me-" Roman began, "If I were to tell you that my first sleepover was when I was nineteen and it was at Summer's house with her family?"    
  
"Really?" Junior asked, with a slight chuckle. "How long have you two been together?"    
  
"Well," Roman hummed. "I'm twenty four now, and we met when I was... 17 I think."   
  
Junior blinked, and Roman realized then that he was probably treading into some sort of territory that was taboo. Or maybe it wasn't, maybe the guy just truly was surprised to find out the truth about how long Roman and Summer had been together as friends. It was a complicated story, but Roman was sure that he'd be willing to tell it.    
  
So Roman stared at the ceiling for a moment, unsure of what he wanted to say before he finally began. "So she and I went to the same school." He began. "Well, kind of. More I got transferred in during my senior year because I'd..." He paused, and Roman knew that he wore an unflattering grimace. "Well, I had to move, we'll just leave it at that." 

Junior nodded along, listening intently.    
  
"Well, my first day there, this little ball of sunshine comes at me, gets right up in my face, and the first thing she asks me is where I get my hair done and where I got my jacket." Roman shook his head, and his hair flopped about with the motion before he stared at the ceiling for just a moment, feeling mostly content with things. "And then we were just friends after that. She found out I was in a home, and then next thing you know I had a bed in her family's guest room."    
  
Roman swallowed and looked over at Junior, just trying to figure out what he was thinking at the moment. He didn't know whether or not he was maybe accidentally touching on something that Junior would have been familiar with, having grown up with James. He didn't want to end up accidentally upsetting the guy.    
  
But it didn't seem like he had managed to do anything even similar to upset Junior. He was just being looked at while Junior listened along intently.    
  
"Junior?"   
  
"I'm still listening." There was a pause, and Roman about felt his heart stop when he felt Junior's hand gently get placed on his own. It was warm, and a bit too large. The touch was intimate, much more intimate than anything that he'd felt from Junior before. He didn't do anything to move out from under it, and Roman instead just shifted slightly so that he could lace their fingers together.    
  
"Okay." Roman said with a heavy inhale. "So when we got old enough, she went off to college. Just community college, so that she could get everything in order before she went ahead and tried to get more stuff done. I ended up bussing tables at a bar." Roman shrugged slightly. "She studied for it, I kind of just landed in what I wanted to do."    
  
"So you two are just..."   
  
"Yeah." Roman said quietly. "She's basically my sister." He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "We've even borrowed each other's stuff once in awhile." Roman let himself lie down again, pillowing his head on the inside of Junior's arm. "I love her to pieces."    
  
Junior nodded, and he stared off into the distance, like he too was trying to get some things figured out. Like maybe he wanted to tell Roman about where he came from, and how he'd ended up where he was today. Roman wondered if maybe there was something there that he didn't want to say because he felt like he'd already given so much information in the past.

Which was something that Roman could honestly understand. Things had always been a bit uneven between the two of them in the past when it came to sharing.    
  
"Do..." Junior paused, weighing his words. "Do you want to know about me?"    
  
Roman blinked, and just smiled and nodded slowly.   
  
"Okay." Junior shifted, and got up from the bed, which earned a whine from Roman at the loss of the warmth that Junior's arm had given him as a pillow. Roman let himself settle back into the bed and watched silently as Junior walked across the room to find something.    
  
He picked up a book of some sort, and Roman was just left to watch as Junior began to flip through it in search of something that he didn't quite want to ask questions about. Junior paused on a page, and then he climbed back into bed with Roman and laid the book out across their laps.    
  
"So," Junior began. "This is my family. You've met mom and James, but that's my father. We don't have a lot of photos of us all as a family."   
  
Roman blinked and stared down at the photo. It was clearly old, with James and Junior probably twelve or thirteen at the absolute most. Junior's mother was small, but it was clear that Junior took after his father in a lot of ways, height included. They looked happy through, for the most part. There was some things about the photo that were off for reasons that Roman couldn’t quite figure out, but they were mostly happy.    
  
"So, why this photo?" Roman asked, looking up to meet Junior's eyes. "Any particular reason you wanted to show me this one?"    
  
"Well..." Junior shrugged. "That was the day that we officially took James in, I guess." He blinked. "We...." There was another pause. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm not actually really sure where James came from. There's a lot of stuff that he's never told... anyone, really."   
  
"So how did you..."    


"My father found him." Junior explained. "Just wandering, getting into fights, something like that. Dragged him out of whatever his situation was and he just brought James home one night. I remember my parents fighting over whether we should call social services or not and we called long enough to get the family registered to foster."    
  
Roman blinked and curled in against Junior, feeling a little bit sad because he hadn't realized how rocky that relationship was. And it sounded like Junior didn't have the context for most of what had happened, not really. It sounded like he'd been protected from most of the bad stuff that had happened.    


And even now, years later, he didn’t seem to have a full story. Roman felt bad for him.

"So..."    
  
Junior looked sad. "He never really did start to feel like part of the family." He murmured, quietly. "We tried really hard, but I don't think James... is really capable of thinking of us that way. It's frustrating, but..." Another shrug. "He's my brother. We still love him, you know?" Another pause. "I know it's not the same as what you went through-"    
  
"I..." Roman paused, not sure how to voice what he wanted to say. "It's nice hearing that story though. I like that the stories we have are different." For a second he almost chewed his lower lip, but was careful to stop himself before he could continue. "Even if you don't have a full story."    


Roman didn't know what to expect from that, but he was lucky. Junior just smiled weakly at him and looked like he was getting ready to turn the page in his book so that he could show Roman something else, but he was gripped by some sort of hesitation. Instead of turning the page, Junior closed the book and set it down off to the side.    
  
It was probably just what Junior needed to feel better, Roman thought to himself. If he didn't go ahead and turn the page, then it meant that Junior wasn't getting himself in a situation where he accidentally ended up saying too much about things that he shouldn't have.    
  
The book found a home on the side table to Junior's bed, and then Junior was lying down properly next to Roman. There was a second where the two of them were hesitating to do anything. Roman partially wanted to creep in closer to Junior so that they could cuddle properly, but he didn't want to make the guy too uncomfortable.    
  
Junior grabbed a blanket and pulled it up over himself, and pulled it up on one side so that he made a bit of room for Roman to join him under it. For a second, Roman decided to act like he was hesitating, mostly because he didn't want to end up looking too eager to press in against Junior. With everything that had been going on, he didn't want to let Junior know that there was really nothing more that he wanted than to cuddle in together.    
  
Slowly, he edged himself under the blanket, and once he was in far enough next to Junior, he felt a strong arm wrap around him and cover him with the blanket the rest of the way. The warmth was the first thing that overtook Roman, followed closely by Junior's scent and the sudden realization that the two of them were cuddling. 

He tried not to let any sort of sound, mostly because he didn't want to have to get into trouble by making himself a little bit too comfortable with Junior.    
  
"So." Junior said quietly, wrapping an arm around Roman and pulling him in a little bit closer. Roman didn't protest it, just let himself sink into Junior's arms and made himself more comfortable. "You're comfortable, right?"    
  
"I am." Roman answered, smiling at Junior as he rested his head down on one of Junior's pillow. "Thanks for inviting me to spend the night." He whispered. "You know, dinner was already a lot..."   
  
"Well," Junior hesitated, his voice low and gravelly with exhaustion. The sound was enough to send a shiver rushing down Roman's spine at the sound. He was going to have to try very hard not to let himself get too involved in that.    
  
It wouldn't do to get so riled up over Junior's voice.    


Finally, Junior began to speak again. "I figured that you would probably like a bit more than just coming over and sitting around awkwardly because you aren't really part of the boxing group."    
  
"I like spending time with you guys." Roman answered quietly. "The fact that there was food that I was able to eat was nice, but I was just glad that you guys actually want me around for more than just work."    
  
"Of course we want you around." Junior gave his rebuttal, but paused quickly. Like there was something that he didn't want to touch on. Roman had to wrack his mind to figure out possibilities for what it was that Junior was thinking about, but eventually the other man went ahead and finished. "I like having you around a lot. Regardless of what its for."    
  
Roman felt his mouth drop open a little bit, knowing fully that it wasn't exactly the most becoming look on him.   
  
Mostly he didn't know what he wanted to do in this situation. His heart was beginning to pound against his chest a little too hard, and the feeling of having Junior there against him left Roman feeling a little bit overwhelmed. It almost felt like he was being told something that he wasn't quite ready to deal with.   
  
"You really mean that?" Roman asked, blinking and staring up into Junior's eyes. "Because you're saying an  _ awful  _ lot there, Baby bear."   
  
"Yeah." Junior finally said after a moment. "I do. And I mean it."   
  
That was it. Roman didn't know what he wanted to do anymore, or what he could say anymore. He wanted to get some comfort in all of this, and he didn't know why he was making himself get worried about this sort of thing. It just meant that Junior wanted him around.    
  
He didn't know how he was going to be able to sleep like this.    
  
He forced a smile onto his face and just pressed himself in even closer to Junior. He reached up towards Junior's face and gently cupped the side of it with an open hand before Roman gently turned his face.

Roman had to pull himself up and onto Junior partially so that he could do what he wanted to do. The man beneath him was staring up into his eyes in some disbelief. Roman didn't say anything to Junior, just leaned in and pressed his lips to Junior's.   
  
Distantly, he was aware of the feeling of Junior's hands on his waist pulling him in close. Roman smiled and pulled away from the kiss for just a second so that he could breathe before leaning back in and kissing again, this time harder and a bit deeper.    
  
Junior groaned quietly underneath him. Roman took the chance to run his fingers through Junior's hair as the two of them laid back and made themselves more comfortable.    
  
Roman kissed Junior breathless, and when he finally pulled away again, he felt one of Junior's hands on his shoulder, gently pushing him back away so that he couldn't continue what he was doing. Roman understood, and he climbed off of Junior so that he rested at the man's side.    
  
"Sorry." Junior said, sitting back and looking over at Roman. "I'm just..."   
  
"No," Roman swallowed. He should have expected this, he figured. "It's fine. I get it." Roman laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and make himself feel better about things. He was pushing too much, and Junior needed space.   
  
Roman could give him that.   
  
"Right." Junior said awkwardly before climbing out of bed. He was completely red, probably due to embarrassment, among other things. "Look, if you don't mind I'm going to go and take a shower and you know..." He swallowed. "Get cleaned up and all of that."   
  
"Right," Roman replied, peeling his eyes away from Junior. "You should do that."   
Junior slipped out of the room wordlessly, leaving Roman all alone in bed to deal with his thoughts on his own.    
  
He took another deep breath and turned onto his side. He didn't know what he was going to do anymore- Roman had probably gone ahead and fucked everything up and he knew that he wasn't' going to be able to make himself just start feeling better about that. 

There probably wasn't anything that could have remedied this, in all truth.    
  
Roman just hoped that the things that Junior had said earlier, about things like caring about him were going to hold true and that he'd be forgiven. But he hadn't done anything that bad, had he?    
  
He'd backed off when Junior had asked, that was a lot in itself...   
  
Roman shook the thought and reached for his phone, going straight to the web browser once it was working so that he could try to find a way to calm himself down.    
  
He chose checking his emails as a remedy, and checked so many that once he finally began to feel tired, he fell asleep. 

He wasn't even awake when Junior came back in and climbed into bed beside him so that he could sleep through the rest of the night.    



	45. Breakfast Ingredients

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mornings after can be awkward for a lot of reasons. More than Junior realizes.

The morning was already unusual, partially because of the fact that Junior was sharing his bed with someone. 

Because of the first reason, getting out of bed swiftly became an ordeal. First, Junior had to untangle himself from Roman- which was a chore in itself since the night before had ended on a rather  _ awkward _ note.

Junior was sure that was something that they were going to have to deal with eventually, but he didn’t let himself linger on it for too long.

When he went out to the living room, Junior saw that James was already up, quietly reading something on his tablet and having a mug of coffee to help him wake up. Junior swallowed, a bit nervous about what this could mean once the time came that Roman decided to get out of bed for himself that morning.

A quick glance towards James' legs provided no sight of the cane though, and so Junior couldn't help but wonder. Normally James wasn't feeling so well this early in the morning.

_ Something _ had to be going on, but Junior didn’t know what it could be.

"Hey." Junior greeted James as he grabbed up a mug and filled it with some coffee. "Getting ready for work soon?"

"Nope." James said quietly. "I called everyone, we're opening at noon today."

"Huh." Junior replied. "Any reason?"

James didn't look up at him, and Junior was sure that had it been any other day and any other circumstance, he probably would have taken some offense over it. But the night before had been odd and had left his head swimming with a lot of worries that he couldn't quite voice.

In a way, he mostly just wanted to know that James was doing well that morning and wanted to know that he hadn't done anything to upset the man that he was so proud to be able to call his brother.

"Aside from the fact that it’s ten in the morning and both of us slept in?" James asked rhetorically as he locked his tablet and set it face down on the table in front of him. "Well, you had company over and I figured it was probably for the best that you didn't end up screwing that up because you had to get up for work."

Junior raised an eyebrow. For some reason he had a feeling that there was something that James was leaving out, but he didn't want to be the one to go ahead and voice that concern. The last thing that the two of them needed was for something to come up to make things more awkward than they already would be.

"Is that all?"

"No." James chuckled before sipping from his mug of coffee. "I have reason to believe that Raven and Taiyang were going to be sleeping in anyways so I figured it wouldn't hurt for us to come in a bit later."

"Ah." Junior took his seat across from James and tried to think of anything that he could say, but nothing came to mind. This was just how mornings with James tended to go- awkwardly for reasons that he didn't always understand.

"Is there something you need, Junior?" James asked, his face screwing up slightly in something akin to annoyance as he looked over at his brother. "You should probably be back in your room with Roman-"

"I just..." Junior shook his head. "Just ended up thinking about a lot of things last night, James."

"And?"

"And I wanted to say that..." He paused. He was going to have to weigh what he was about to say very carefully if he was going to say anything about this. He needed for James to feel comfortable with it too. "I wanted to say that I still love you as your brother." Junior "Despite whatever you've been through."

"Where is this coming from?"

“We..." Junior paused. "Got talking about family last night is all."

James stared at him for a moment, and his mouth began to drop open slightly like he wanted to say something to Junior but was having trouble finding the exact words. Like maybe he was surprised that family was even a topic that could have come up between Junior and Roman.

"I see." James finally answered, his jaw going tight and his grip on his coffee mug tightening slightly. "I'm uh..." He paused, unable to come up with anything to say. Junior decided that the best that he could do was just sit there and wait for James to say something. He knew that it was a topic that tended to leave James feeling uncomfortable. For a lot of reasons, a lot of them that Roman didn't actually know himself.

James' brow furrowed, and he stared down into the mug of coffee that he was gripping. Eventually, he did speak up and lock his eyes with Junior. "Thanks." He paused, and Junior braced himself for whatever it was that James wanted to ask him. "You should probably be getting Roman up or-"

"Yeah." Junior answered, forcing a smile. He pushed himself up to his feet and sipped his coffee before leaving it there at the table. He didn't really want it if he was going to go off and wake Roman up anyways. It was simply a matter of him just not wanting to deal with any extra awkwardness as a result of having the coffee there.

The last thing he needed that morning was a spill, after all.

He took the quick walk back to his room and hesitated at the door. He wanted to just go in and deal with all of this, but for some reason he almost felt like there was something just stopping him from stepping in and going to talk to Roman. Maybe it was the knowledge of what had happened the night before and how intense things had gotten.

Junior had slipped out of there for a reason. He'd needed some space, and he was more than glad that Roman had been so happy to give him that space, but he couldn't help but feel a bit awkward about the whole thing.

But he couldn't not go in there and hope that he wasn't going to walk into the most awkward situation that he'd been in over the course of his entire life, save for the time when he'd found Taiyang pinned to a wall in the back room of the gym with Raven's lips on his neck.

They couldn't bring themselves to look him in the eye for a solid week after that.

But he could go in and talk to Roman.

That was something that Junior was mostly sure he could do and deal with.

Finally, Junior reached out and took the doorknob, turning it slowly before he pushed the door open as quietly as he could manage.

To no surprise whatsoever, Roman was still there curled up in bed, with a heap of blankets on top of him that was almost enough to make it look like he was barely even there. He was comfortable though, Junior could tell that.

Junior sucked in a deep breath to help him steel his nerves before finally approaching Roman. Carefully, Junior seated himself on the edge of the bed and just watched Roman sleep, just for a minute. He was going to have to wake the man up, and there was absolutely no avoiding that fact.

But Roman looked so comfortable there that Junior honestly felt bad about it. For the first time he was able to actually notice certain things about Roman. It was the way that his orange hair seemed to flip out of his face almost perfectly even when he slept, and the cinnamon colored freckles that ran over Roman's nose and cheeks.

Maybe it was the fact that it was Roman sleeping in  _ his _ bed like this instead of somewhere else. Maybe it was the events of the night before.

Regardless, there was something that was making Junior feel like he couldn't actually go ahead and wake Roman up through all of this.

But he had to do it, he reminded himself as he lifted one of his hands and reached out to gently place it on Roman's shoulder.

"Roman." Junior said, hushed at first because he didn't want to just wake the guy up with a lot of noise. That wasn't pleasant for anyone, after all. "Roman, you have to get up."

The man didn't shift to do or say anything. He seemed to nuzzle further into Junior's pillow for a moment, but that wasn't the biggest concern, was it? Junior didn't think that it was, at least. It was just a sign that Roman was comfortable.

Again, Junior spoke up, this time a bit louder than the first time that he'd tried to wake his friend. "Roman." He gave Roman's hand a slight squeeze to see whether or not he could get Roman awake that way. If Junior had his way, he wasn't going to end up getting caught here for too long.

He had things to do that day, and he was fairly certain that the same probably applied to Roman as well.

Roman though, he just groaned and shifted, turning so that he was lying on his back. Junior pulled his hand away from the man and just waited. Roman stared up at him with very tired eyes and an expression that could only be considered as being grumpy.

"Baby bear?" Roman asked, his voice completely exhausted. "What-"

"You've gotta get up." Junior said, knowing that he probably sounded a little bit too apologetic for what he was saying, all things considered. He blinked and took a deep breath before deciding to follow up on things. "We have coffee ready, but James and I have to get ready to go out to the gym sometime soon."

Roman groaned and pushed himself upright, bringing a hand up so that he could rub at his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up. He stared up at Junior with those tired green eyes and let out a low groan before speaking up.

"So I gotta get up?"

"Yeah." Junior said as he got to his feet so that he could at the very least give Roman some space while he got up. "You can take your time, but..." He shrugged. "I was going to see what we could do about breakfast once you were up."

"Alright." Roman said with a quiet sigh. "Thanks baby bear."

Junior swallowed and smiled. "Thanks Ro."

Junior shifted slightly and watched as Roman pushed himself upright. For just a second, he let himself just watch as Roman sat up properly. He let his gaze travel over Roman's form and just took it in. For a moment Junior couldn't help the quiet stabbing feeling of guilt that overtook him at the realization that he was checking Roman out.

Surely they were at a point in their relationship where that wasn't a big deal anymore? After the way that the night before had gone, then he probably shouldn't have been feeling much of anything over this anymore. If either of them should have been feeling anything, it should have been Roman being utterly flattered and glad to be checked out.

"So," Roman mumbled as he reached up with an open hand so that he could force his hair back out of his face for a second before looking up at Junior. He looked so tired, but there was a certain sort of quirk to his lips that left Junior feeling like his heart was beating a little too hard against his chest. "What do you even want to do for breakfast?"

Junior figured that was probably one of the million dollar questions that could have been asked. He hadn't really thought about what they were going to be eating at all, just that he wanted to make sure that they both got a chance to eat something that day. Maybe this was going to be a matter of them eating cereal before rushing out the door to figure some things out.

"I haven't thought about it yet." Junior said as he shifted on his bed in hopes that he could make himself a little bit more comfortable. "I figured that you and I would be able to figure it out with James and then once everything was done we'd be able to go to work."

Roman smiled and twisted his body before pressing himself in close to Junior. Junior was about to pull away for a second when Roman reached up and cupped his cheek and gently pulled him in for a kiss. The two of them lingered there for a moment, and for just that moment, Junior was more than content to just wait there and enjoy the contact.

But it had to end, as most things had to end eventually.

Roman finally climbed out of bed and stretched before following Junior out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where James was still sitting in the attached dining room and reading something over on his tablet once more. He couldn't figure out what it would be that James was looking into. It didn't matter, Junior supposed.

In the end, what James did on his free time didn't mean anything to him at the end of the day. As long as they were both comfortable and well taken care of, then there was nothing wrong with it..

"Morning Jimmy." Roman greeted James before taking one of the seats at the dining table. As Junior slipped back into the kitchen so that he could try and get Roman something to enjoy for the morning, he heard the sound of a mug of coffee being set down a little harder than it should have been.

"My name is  _ James _ ."

And there it was, Junior thought with a small smile as he poured a mug of coffee for Roman. This was just normal behavior for the two of them.

Junior just shook his head and turned to face his brother and Roman. James had set his phone down and looked a little bit more than just frustrated with everything. It was the first thing in the morning, he guess, but James would be fine.

"Yeah, sure it is." Roman said before looking up at Junior. "Coffee for me?"

That was a good question. Junior stared down at the mug of coffee that he had for a moment, and then he just had to pause as he realized that he had no idea how Roman actually liked to take his coffee in the morning.

"Yeah." Junior said, pausing before staring at Roman for a second. "You... like cream, right?"

James got up and stood up before sliding out of his chair. "You two are making me sick." James reached out and picked up his mug of coffee and his tablet before heading towards the door so that he could leave the two of them alone.

"We wanted you to join us for breakfast." Junior spoke up as he stared at James' figure as his brother stood by the door to the room. "You don't have to..."

James stood there and he just paused for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. "I'll join you for breakfast. Just come and get me whenever it's ready."

"Is there anything in particular you might want?" Junior asked quietly, hoping that he'd get some sort of response that would actually be of some use to them. He watched James, and when James didn't do anything to give a response, Junior figured that meant that he'd gotten everything that he was going to be getting out of James.

"Nah." James finally said before slipping away and out of sight. "Just get whatever you want."

With James gone, Junior just let out a far too heavy sigh and just looked over at Roman. "He's fine." He said quietly, hoping that he'd be able to do enough to make them both feel a bit more comfortable. "Promise?"

"You sure?" Roman asked quietly, and not sounding like he was comfortable with anything that was going on at the moment. "Because he doesn't sound like he's doing alright..."

"Yeah, he's fine." Junior replied before looking back at the mug of coffee. "How about you fix this and I'll try to start making something so that we can all have something to eat?"

Roman stood up and slipped into the kitchen with Junior. He took the mug of coffee for himself and began to fix it as he liked it, which just left Junior to try and figure out what he wanted to do for food.

A quick search through the refrigerator gave Junior an idea of what he could make for them. It probably wasn't going to be the best, but he was going to be able to do plenty to make them all something to eat that morning.

"You know," Roman said confidently. "I'm not the biggest fan of most breakfasty foods."

"I figured as much." Junior said quietly. "We'll figure it out, okay?"

Junior hesitated for just a second before finally actually looking over the contents of his and James' fridge. There were a lot of leftovers from the night before that were going to be sure to be able to serve as a nice lunch, and aside from that there was a mostly full carton of eggs that Junior was sure he was going to be able to do something with.

A quick search presented him with cheese and vegetables that had been chopped the night before that hadn't ended up being needed. All at once, what he wanted to make them for breakfast came together in Junior's mind and he just looked over at Roman and shot him a gentle smile. "Do you mind omelettes?"

"Omelettes?" Roman responded, almost like he was feigning disbelief over the question. Junior couldn't tell whether or not this was simply Roman just judging him for wanting to cook something, or whether it was Roman getting ready to make some sort of comment over the fact that at the end of the day, Junior was in fact a bachelor.

But if that was what Roman was trying to do, Junior could always go ahead and fire back with a joke or two about the fact that Roman didn't seem to be able to cook at all- the amount of delivery that the guy seemed to order really spoke for itself in a lot of ways.

"Is there a problem with omelettes?" Junior asked, half-joking and half worried. "Because we have leftovers from last night-"

"Omelettes would be great, Junior." Roman finally said with a laugh. "No meat, okay?"

That was about the most encouraging thing that Junior could have gotten out of Roman, but he needed a moment to pause as he tried to figure out whether or not he was doing well enough to call the morning a success. "Uh, is there anything else?"

"Uh..." Roman hummed. "Take it light on the onions?"

That was more than enough, Junior thought. He just smiled and nodded in understanding and began to get to work on making breakfast. He didn't pay much attention to it when Roman slipped out of the room, presumably because he wanted to try and get ready for the day ahead of him. Junior was going to have to do the same eventually, it was just going to be a matter of time before he got the chance to make that happen.

Cooking was easy enough, it was comfortable and with an empty kitchen Junior was actually able to concentrate on the day that was ahead of them. He was just going to have to make sure that they had breakfast, he was going to have to put together some lunches for himself and James, and he was sure that he was probably going to do the same for Roman out of courtesy.

He had several minutes before he was being rejoined by Roman. When he showed up, Junior was halfway through cooking the first omelette. Junior wouldn't have even noticed the fact that he wasn't alone if it wasn't for the feeling of a pair of arms wrapping around his waist.

The first thing that Junior did was he almost dropped his spatula and tried to squirm away from Roman. "Hey," He said, trying not to pay too little attention to what he was working on for food. "Roman, do you-"

Roman groaned and pulled away from Junior before taking a seat back over in the dining room where he was out of the way. "Just wanted to let you know that you weren't alone anymore, baby bear." Roman joked as he leaned forward and just watched Junior cook. "Is that mine?"

"Actually," Junior began. "It's for James because he's not going to come out here and talk to us on his own. Might as well make sure that he's fed before you and I have something to eat together."

"You're waiting so that you can eat with lil' old me?" Roman chuckled. "I almost thought you didn't like me for a second there."

"Nah, was just surprised." Junior replied as he took a second to flip the omelette before setting down the spatula and turning to face Roman. "So what are you even going to be doing today?" He asked quietly. "Because somehow I'm doubting that you'll be coming back to the gym for the day."

He just watched Roman for a long moment after he turned around. It looked like Roman had taken the chance to just get himself dressed and fix his hair when it had arisen. He was handsome, Junior realized for probably the hundredth time around.

"I haven't really thought about it all that much," Roman admitted as he leaned forward and rested his forearms against the table in front of him. He looked comfortable, and Junior was glad for that. "I should probably be going back to the office for the day, but I don't really think that we'll find anything to do there."

"Really?" Junior asked. "No other clients that you need to look after?"

Roman hummed, deep in thought as he searched out the best possible way to answer Junior's question. It was a little while, and Junior just made himself comfortable while he waited for Roman to give an answer.

"Yeah, I don't think there's anything critical." Roman answered. "Besides, you guys have one week before this whole thing happens. I should be sticking around and paying the gym extra attention this week so that I can make sure that you're ready."

Deep down, Junior knew that Roman was probably right about everything. It was probably in their best interests to make sure that the gym was taken care of. They had a lot of things to get ready to deal with in the very near future.

Roman was great to them, Junior thought. "I guess you can come by the gym and spend the day there if you want to." He finally said, with a slight shrug. "I don't really know what you'll have to do there while everyone's getting ready for things, though."

"I am sure that I'll be able to figure something else." Roman said, sounding a bit too confident. "You've gotta trust me, baby bear, I'm good at my job and I'm proud to be able to help you out." There was a pause. "Besides, you guys make it worth it."

Junior felt his heart beat hard against his chest at those words. He couldn't quite figure out what he wanted to say or do over that, but it was nice. It was comforting. If he was the one that was able to make coming out to the gym worth it for Roman, then he was glad to be able to take the honor.

"Well, in that case." Junior smiled at Roman as he began to remove the omelette that he'd been cooking from the pan it was in and got it onto a plate. "I'm sure that people wouldn't mind having you around at the gym for a bit."

"You think so?" Roman asked, giving him a look as Junior set everything down at his side to make sure that things were going to be fine. "Because I'm sure that I'll be able to find something to do up there."

"I know." Junior said before giving Roman a gentle judge. "Go ahead get James, would you?"

Roman nodded and slipped out of the room, and that left Junior to take a moment to prepare the next omelette for the night. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, because he was sure that he had everything that he was going to need that day.

It was a few minutes, and then Roman was coming back, with James in tow and looking a little bit too grumpy for Junior's liking. That was something that he figured he should have expected.

Junior offered the plate to James like it was a peace offering, and was glad to see James take it and silently get a fork. He paused for a second, glanced between Roman and Junior and then quietly announced that he was going to be off in the living room to them.

Silently, James slipped out, and Junior realized quickly that Roman was just watching as the man left. He wanted to ask a question about that, but decided that it wasn't for the best that he asked it.

"You know," Roman dropped his volume as low as he could manage. "He's really good at making a guy feel like he doesn't belong somewhere."

"Yeah," Junior answered with a low sigh. "That's James for you. Don't take it personally, he probably just wants to give us space instead of crowding us or making us uncomfortable."

"That's what it is?" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because that's not what it looks like."

Junior's eyes strayed to the entrance to the kitchen, and he peered a little  bit past it for a long second. "Yeah." He said, his voice a little too tight. Tight enough that Roman surely would be able to notice it. "Just trust me."

Roman groaned and leaned back against the counter, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible while he waited for Junior to finish cooking something. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, and after a bit he was able to hand off a plate to Roman, and then made a plate for himself.

Together, he and Roman went out to the living room to see how things were going. James had eaten only about half of his breakfast as was deep in reading something on his phone when the two of them came in.

He looked up and his eyes flashed between him Junior and Roman like he was looking for something interesting in them. "Everything alright?" James asked, his voice quiet.

"Yeah." Junior answered as he took a seat next to James. "We were talking about when we should be heading out to the gym for work?"

James' brow furrowed at that, and he could tell that the gears were turning in James' head over that. Junior just watched and waited for there to be some sort of response that would make things a bit easier for them to figure out. "He's coming to work with us?"

"I am." Roman responded with a wide grin. "I figured that I'd be able to find something important to do up at the gym today while you guys go about your normal work."

"You're confident about that?" James asked, a smirk creasing his face and a certain tone of cockiness in it that Junior wasn't used to hearing much these days. Normally that tone wouldn't even be considered. "Because I don't think that we have anything to do that you would be much use for."

"I will find a way to make myself useful." Roman answered, grinning widely. "I didn't just get to be where I am by playing along like I don't belong in places. I got to my job because I was willing to clean dishes and take out the trash-"

James' eyes narrowed and he leaned in towards Roman in a way that was almost  _ threatening  _ in nature. Junior decided that it wasn't the best idea for him to try and get into the middle of all of this- if anything, there was just a healthy sort of conversation being built up between James and Roman that was probably going to end up being a good thing in the long run.

Junior just didn't want to get caught up in the middle of what was going on.

He knew better than that.

"Well," James said, that cockiness still in his voice. "How about this, we'll find you things to do and you can make yourself as useful as you think you can manage to be, Roman?"

"I'll take that challenge." Roman said with his grin still wide. He shook his head for a second just to get his hair out of his face, and that was sure to work. "Thanks for the offer, Jimmy."

"Don't." James set his plate down and all at once all of the playfulness that had seemed to be there drained out of his expression completely. "Do not call me Jimmy."

"Jamesy."

"No."

"Jim?"

"You haven't earned the right to that name yet?"

Roman's face screwed up in thought, and Junior was left finally worrying about what was going to happen if he didn't somehow intervene in what was going on now. There was a very real potential for all of this to get very ugly.

He didn't want that.

None of them would want that, in fact.

"So what nicknames have I earned a right to use then, Jimbo?" Roman laughed.

" _ Definitely _ not that one." James deadpanned. "You can just call me James, Roman. Please."

Junior rolled his eyes and decided that the best thing he could do was just try to let James and Roman do what they needed to do in order to get their stuff together. H was going to be able to help them out pretty soon, but for now it was probably for the best that he just let the two of them bicker.

They had a day ahead of them that they were going to be able to make their way through.

James and Roman were going to know when to put all of the weirdness aside later on in the day. For now though, they could go ahead and bicker to their heart’s content.


	46. Cleaning House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finds he fits in around the gym better than he'd realized.

James, Junior, and Roman left for the gym together. When they arrived that morning, Roman was feeling  _ great _ . He’d been able to eat his breakfast, and upon arriving at the gym he was able to go ahead and begin  _ actually _ helping out around the gym. While James and Junior got things set up and ready for the day that was ahead of them, Roman took his time cleaning the floors with a broom like had had so many times before.

He didn't know what the day ahead of them was going to look like, just that there was some awkwardness around the gym that seemed to permeate through every crack. Roman figured that it was just a result of how the night before had gone. He was sure that he wasn’t going to be able to forget about what had happened between himself and Junior. Roman  _ definitely _ wasn’t going to be able to forget about that awkward morning.

He was midway through sweeping the front entrance when the door opened and Roman was left silently cursing the heavens over the knowledge that someone was about to walk through the door and start ruining his hard work.

The first one through the door was Raven. She was wearing a pair of heels that had absolutely no place in the same room as a boxing ring- especially for someone that was going to be climbing up into it in a few minutes. Although, Roman couldn’t help but think that they were well suited to a nightclub.

Taiyang streamed into the room just after her. He was carrying two gym bags, one hanging over each side. It meant that the blonde had to slip into the gym sideways. Instead of saying anything to either of them, Roman just did his best to slide out of the way so that he wouldn’t end up at any risk of getting caught up in the middle of things that he didn’t belong in.

“Hey Red!” Taiyang greeted him excitedly. “Junior in?”

“He’s in the back.” Roman said, looking back over his shoulder. “Have a nice night?”

“I did.” Taiyang said. He paused for a second and set his bag down at his side while he watched Raven stop by the edge of the ring. Roman couldn’t help but look over as well, watching silently as the woman seated herself and slipped out of the pair of heels that she’d arrived there in.

Roman didn't know why he and Taiyang were watching Raven, but he did know that the woman had a hell of a fashion sense when she wanted to. When he let his eyes stray back over to Taiyang, in his t-shirt and shorts, with his yellow hair flopping everywhere, Roman was quick decide that between himself and Raven, there was probably some sort of competition for who had better fashion sense. Not that she would bother to compete.

"You know-" Taiyang spoke up, sounding entirely excited by something that Roman didn't quite want to ask about. "It was really nice being able to hang out with you last night at Junior and James' place."

That hadn't been something that Roman had been expecting to hear, and he definitely wasn't expecting to end up hearing that from Taiyang of all people. It was a nice surprise though, and Roman was quick to return the smile. "Yeah," He answered the blond man. "It was a lot of fun. I'd definitely be up for it again."

Taiyang shifted slightly, and it seemed like the guy just couldn't quite stand still for all that long. Roman figured that was something that he probably shouldn't have felt too surprised by- there was a big part of him that was reminded of a golden retriever when it came to Taiyang Xiao Long. The guy just had a puppy dog quality about him that Roman couldn't help but find kind of adorable. "Well, you know-" Taiyang began to speak for a second, but all at once his expression sank. "Well..."

Roman blinked, very unsure of what he wanted to make of Taiyang's reaction to him. "What is it?'

"Well, I was going to say that you're always probably going to be able to come to that sort of thing in the future but then I remembered..." Taiyang looked away from Roman, off to the side like he was afraid of meeting his eyes for so much as a second. That left Roman feeling less than great about things, and also left him wondering more than ever before about what was going on with Taiyang.

"Well?" Roman asked after a moment, hoping that he'd be able to prompt Taiyang into finishing what he was already talking about. "What is it?"

"It's uh-" Taiyang looked up finally, but it was still not at Roman. He peered over Roman's shoulder, and when Roman looked himself he realized that Junior was there, giving himself and Taiyang a look. He turned and gave Junior a half wave. The giant man relaxed and went back about his business before Roman turned back to Taiyang.

"As you were saying?"

"I just realized that I'm not sure how much longer you're going to be with us, is all." Taiyang said, almost sounding sad. "With the whole working on contract thing, you know?"

Roman paused, and he had to think hard on how he was going to explain what was actually going on from his point of view on that matter. He and Junior had discussed the topic, yes, but that didn't mean that it was easy to explain to just anyone or anything. Especially when he and Junior hadn't really discussed how much they wanted to tell others.

"Well, let me tell you blondie," Roman stepped up to Taiyang's side and wrapped one arm over the larger man's shoulders. It was times like these that Roman was thankful to have some height to back up what he did. "I'm not really intending on going anywhere once this is all over with."

"You mean it?" Taiyang said, blinking and his face lighting up. "Because I don't want to stop seeing you-"

Right then, Roman had to pause as he realized what was probably going on in Taiyang's head. While he was sure that he was a part of what the man was so worried about, it was impossible that the only thing that he had mind of his mind was him going. In fact, considering what he knew about Taiyang, he was sure that part of what the man was worried about was losing contact with Summer.

Roman couldn't really blame him for that, but it hurt a little bit to think about it.

He turned his head and was sure to catch Taiyang's gaze so that he could talk to his friend one on one. "Listen, I'm not going anywhere. Neither is Sunshine."

"Summer's-"

"Trust me Tai." With those words, Roman slipped out from Taiyang's grip and smiled at him as he picked up the broom that he'd been using to help clean up the the gym. "She likes you too much to just drop out on you completely."

Taiyang nodded, not seeming entirely confident. Roman's gaze flicked over to the ring, where Raven was waiting, seemingly having shed everything nice that she was wearing in favor of shorts and a black cut off top. Heels were replaced with flat shoes, and she looked ready. She looked like she could snap anyone in half.

Roman was  _ glad _ that he'd chosen Raven to be the face of Xiong's in their poster campaign. That was probably the best choice he'd made ever since coming to work for the gym. She made an impression. He glanced back over at Taiyang. "I mean it, Tai. She'll stick around for you." A pause. "You should probably get back into the ring, though."

Taiyang nodded and picked up both of the gym bags at his sides before making the advance on the ring finally so that he could climb up into it and get to work. With Taiyang out of the way, Roman was able to get back to work. Everything was going to be fine, they just needed a chance to be able to play out in whatever way they needed to be.

The sounds of Taiyang and Raven punches were undercut with the sound of music playing from someone's phone to keep them all entertained. For the first time Time that he had ever been there, Roman took the pause and just let himself glance around the gym and drink in all of its sights and sounds.

Deep down, Roman was sure that there was some part of him that really actually enjoyed it there at the gym. He still didn’t feel like he fit in there quite right, but there was that sense of community that made it feel like it was all worth it.

But that was probably the biggest thing that had begun to change, Roman found himself realizing. For a long time, the sense of community at the gym had been the thing that had left him feeling like he didn't belong there. It had been the thing holding him back from really enjoying himself.

That feeling had changed though. He'd been invited to things outside of the gym by people other than Junior now, he was someone that people actually seemed like they were going to miss once his contract with the gym ended. He felt like he did belong there, even if his place at the gym was perhaps in the back room as opposed to being in the ring.

In theory he could have had that happen someday, but he was pretty sure that boxing wasn't for him anymore. If he wanted to, he could have asked Junior and he would have been able to still get his boxing lessons on the side.

Roman didn't need them to belong there anymore.

He was part of the club, whether he liked it or not. Roman was mostly just glad that he actually did enjoy the whole thing instead of not.

Once in awhile he would look over at the ring where Raven and Taiyang were sparring. It didn't look like the two of them were going for a straight match, which Roman found interesting because he was fairly certain that the two of them were more than capable of sparring without needing to stop for reasons relating to differences in height, or sex, or whatever else the world of competition said should keep them from sharing a ring.

Hell, he knew that people sparred with people that were bigger than them at the gym all the time.

Roman had a lot of questions about what Raven and Taiyang's relationship was like, but it wasn't his place to ask. He was going to be their friend for as long as the two of them wanted him around, and he was going to be proud of that fact.

After a while he found himself sidling up to Junior, who seemed to be trying to busy himself with repairing a punching bag that had taken a little bit more of a beating than anyone would have liked. The roll of duct tape at his side and the pair of scissors that was resting inside of the roll told Roman everything that he needed to know.

Roman took his seat next to Junior quietly and just watched. "Hey." He said quietly. "I did the whole lobby and the area by the supply closet-"

Junior looked up at him and just let his hands rest on top of the punching bag that he was doing so many repairs on. "Thanks, Ro." He said, smiling at him softly. It was enough to make Roman feel like his heart almost skipped a beat over the expression. He felt warm, comfortable there. "You really didn't have to come by for this, you know?"

"I know." Roman said with a quiet shrug. Junior stopped his rest and began to tear off another strand of duct tape to use to patch up what they were doing. "I wanted to help you out, stuff's getting really close and I figure I might as well make sure that you guys are getting your money's worth for my commission."

Roman swallowed and forced a smile because he was fairly certain that he might have accidentally brought up a topic that was probably better off left alone. The fact that he was taking a percentage cut for his work was going to be a thing for him to worry about, since he didn't know how much he was actually going to end up being paid for his work.

But he was certain that at the very least James was concerned with the question of what happened when it came time for his paycheck.

Junior probably was feeling that same concern, even if was more by periphery.

"So you decided to show up and sweep for us?" Junior asked with a shake of his head that made his short hair flop into his face, just a bit. For the first time, Roman realized that it looked like Junior had a little bit of a cowlick in his hair.

Roman liked it.

"I mean, I figured that I wasn't doing anything too offensive when I decided to pick up a broom." He shrugged. "I've done the whole cleaning thing before, you know? It's not something that really bothers me because it's just part of what needs to be done."

Junior patched the bag in another spot and then picked his head up to look over at Roman for just a moment. "Thank you," He said quietly. "Just for everything."

Both of them looked over at the boxing ring, where Raven and Taiyang were taking a short break while they talked to James over the side of the ring. Junior and Roman's gazes lingered on the three for just a moment before Junior just shook his head and focused on what he was doing.

"It's meant a lot to all of us." He finished as he patted some of the tape down into place. "That's all."

Roman swallowed, feeling a little bit awkward about what had just been said, even though he knew that it really wasn't such a big deal or something that he really had to worry about at all. This was just Junior being glad to still have a grip on the business. 

"Well, you know." Roman reached out, just to hold the punching bag stable while Junior worked on it. "I'm glad to be here." There was a silence that hung between them which went undercut by the sound of the quiet conversation between the others in the gym at the moment. "I could have turned you guys down at any moment, and I'm glad that I stuck with you."

"Oh yeah?" Junior smiled slightly. "I'm pretty sure that we've been a lot more of a pain than you wanted to deal with."

"Perhaps you have." Roman replied with a shake of his head that was enough for him to be able to toss his hair back out of his eyes. "But I'm glad to be able to have this place on my resume. It's something that's really different to what I used to do, and it doesn't even fit everything else that I do that well." He shrugged, just slightly. "I'm glad to have this experience under my belt."

Junior set down the roll of duct tape beside him and moved to sit up. Roman watched as Junior took the punching bag by the chain that was used to hang it up and stood up. The chain jingled quietly, and Roman was just left to watch as Junior tested the bag by picking it up.

The bag held, and it didn't seem like it was even beginning to tear again at all. Junior smiled and set it back down, seeming mostly content with his handiwork. "Well, I'm glad that we have managed to do something so good for you, Roman." There was another pause. "I think everyone likes having you here."

"Yeah." Roman couldn't help but to agree. “I think so too." He reached up and pushed his hair out of his face with his hand and looked away from Junior for a moment. All at once he became seriously aware of the fact that this was a rare day where he was out in public without any makeup to help him look presentable.

The realization left Roman feeling vulnerable, so he pulled his hand away to let his hair flop back down over his eye. "I've been getting that feeling too, and it’s a nice one to have, let me tell you."

"Yeah?" Junior asked, sounding almost skeptical. "I guess that Tai likes you well enough-"

"I don't know if Raven likes me." Roman said with a quiet laugh. "Not that I can really make out how she likes anyone."

Junior paused and took a look back over at the ring where Raven and Taiyang were back to fighting, while James was watching the two of them as they sparred. Once in a while James would bark something at the two of them, but mostly stayed out of things.

Roman just watched as Junior watched the others, a little bit unsure about what he wanted to say or do over the whole thing. Junior seemed like he was happy with everything that was going on, if a little bit lost in thought at the moment.

"They all like you," Junior said finally, his voice deathly quiet. "If Raven hasn't tried to fight you physically, that's a good sign. Tai's like a golden retriever that got turned into a person and..." His voice trailed off.

Roman knew who the last person on Taiyang's list of people to talk about was. "And James?"

"He likes you a lot." Junior finished finally. "Just he doesn't like to show that sort of thing." He shook his head again. "But he does, trust me on that, Roman."

Roman was mostly speechless at that. He looked down at his hands and tried not to let it be so obvious that he was smiling over this latest little reveal. He did actually fit in here, and people didn't seem to want to let him forget that fact.

He probably was going to end up feeling like he owed a lot of people, but that was no large matter, Roman thought. He was wanted there, and he didn't even feel like that was just something that people were saying.

Subtly, he reached over towards Junior's hand and gently clasped it in his own. He said nothing, because he was sure that the touch alone was probably more than enough to tell Junior everything that he needed to know.

Junior didn't say anymore either. He just smiled back at Roman and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before pulling away from him. Roman didn't protest it, just got up and stretched. He had things to help out with around the gym anyways. 

The two of them went their separate ways. Roman slipped into the back office to see that it was still empty. He just took a moment to check that he had everything that he needed to work on in order and brushed his hands off before going back out to the main room of the gym to work.

For the most part, his entire evening became a circus of standing back, watching, and waiting as the others got their practice in. While James and Junior were at work and making their best effort to get things done, Roman would find things to do.

One moment he could be working on cleaning something or checking that everyone had what they needed, but then the next he could be running to the office to make sure that there were cool bottles of water for everyone to drink from.

It wasn't interesting work, but it was important, and it made him feel like he was actually a part of team Xiong. When the tournament came, he fully expected to be put in an awkward position where he wasn't going to quite know what to do, but he could expect that he was going to get caught up in similar business.

Junior and James were going to probably end up being too busy to do such busywork anyways, that day. Roman could do a lot of things. He could show up, make sure that everything was well in order, and he could do his best to keep everyone feeling safe and content. He'd plug the gym, and he'd hope that people didn't pick up on the fact that it was very obvious that he wasn't a boxer.

Roman closed his eyes and waited.

It was close to eight that night when he found himself with Junior right beside him, and seeming interested in what he was doing. "Hey." Junior said quietly, just loud enough that ORman was going to be able to hear him over all of the background noise around the gym.

"What is it?" Roman asked, setting down the washcloth that he'd grabbed to wipe the various wooden benches that were around the gym with. "Things going alright?"

"Yeah!" Junior said, smiling slightly. His face was flushed from physical exertion, and Roman couldn't help but think that he looked tired. He figured that Junior had probably ended up in a situation that couldn't just be handled with anything. Junior probably needed to get back over to the ring if he was going to be of any use as a coach. "I wanted to ask if you could do something for the gym while we continue to train?"

Roman raised an eyebrow, a little bit unsure of what could be being asked and then looked over his shoulder at what he'd been working on. It wasn't the most time-critical thing that they were going to have to worry about, but he was going to be able to get the gym cleaned up eventually.

Regardless of how small the task that needed to be done was.

"Well," Roman hummed quietly and thought hard on what it was that Junior possibly could have wanted for him to do. It could have been close to anything, and Roman figured that even being asked to go home was a possibility. But nothing stood out in particular when he thought about it, so he just locked his eyes with Junior, "If you think that you have something that I can do that would be useful, I'd be happy to make that happen."

"I wanted to ask if you would mind calling in an order for food or something." Junior said quietly. "We're going to be at it for most of the night, and we can expect that people are going to end up getting hungry sooner or later."

Roman sighed- this as the sort of work that he supposed he'd been expecting. It was the kind of thing that made sure that they could keep going with what they were working on, and that was what made it worthwhile. He was going to have to step away and take a walk to find out what everyone would like, but that wasn't the biggest deal.

Asking for sandwich preferences didn't even begin to come close to being the most awkward or most concerning thing that he'd had to ask people in the name of work. He could deal with that, he was just going to need to be able to get a clipboard- he knew for a fact that James had one back in the office, and then he was going to be able to just do whatever needed to be done.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Roman replied finally. He took the first step away from the bench and began on the walk back to the office. When Junior followed after him, Roman was glad for it because it meant that he was going to be able to work on this in whatever way he needed to. "Anything that you'd like in particular, or should I just guess?"

Junior waited by the door while Roman grabbed the clipboard and a fresh sheet of paper. He plucked a pen from the cup of pens that James kept on the desk, and passed the clipboard and Junior off so that he could take an order directly.

Neither of them said much of anything after that- just exchanged a smile as Junior wrote down his order before passing it back off to Roman.

It was obvious to both of them that there was nothing that they needed to do in the office after that, but neither of them moved to leave. Junior stepped in the rest of the way and let the door swing shut behind him so that so that the two of them were alone- actually alone, too.

Roman cocked his head slightly and found himself leaning against the door while Junior got close. There was a pause, and then Junior stepped in a bit closer.

Their lips pressed together in a chaste kiss, and then the two of them just waited there in the office for a moment to collect themselves before going off their separate ways.

Junior went back to the ring to train people.

Roman went ahead and began to do the rounds so that he could get some orders for food at the very least. 


	47. Team Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acceptance.

Junior tried to take the knowledge that Roman was out to get food in stride as best as he could. Junior was able to focus to some degree though, even if It meant that he got punched in the face on more than one occasion, he was hot and tired, and that he was mostly just feeling sore all over as a result of what his work demanded of him.

It wasn’t a big deal.

Everyone was starting to feel that way, at least that was what Junior hoped was the case. It was possible that they didn’t think that it was a big deal, but at the very least they were  _ dedicated _ .

For instance, Taiyang almost constantly looked like he was ready to drop. Raven was looking a little bit exhausted and unsure about what was going on at this point other than the knowledge that there was going to be food coming for them to eat eventually. Peter was absent- mostly because he had to train during the mornings because his work put him on a weird schedule that they had to work around.

The only one left that didn’t look completely exhausted at that point was probably James, and even he looked like he was ready to collapse into sleep at any time. Junior knew that it was probably for reasons separate from work, but the fact that James’ voice had gone hoarse was telling on its own.

But the thing was that Junior did feel confident about how the team was looking. Everyone seemed to have themselves in order enough that Junior was going to be able to bring them to a tournament and feel proud of them. Once they were all dressed in the Xiong’s Gym red gear, they were going to look like a proper  _ team _ .

It made him miss competing, but Junior knew that he couldn’t go ahead and do that so much anymore. Things had changed around when his father had passed away, and that meant that it was up for the few people who were good enough to compete there to be able to restore his business’ name.

He walked into the office once he was sure that he was ready. Junior had needed a minute to be able to do the rounds in the main room and make sure that people weren’t leaving their things everywhere. If he had a nickel for every time that he’d seen someone’s empty water bottle that had been left behind on the floor or under one of the benches, Junior was sure that the gym wouldn’t have been in a position like the one they were in now.

Inside of the office, Taiyang and Raven had both taken some of the steel chairs for themselves, and seemed to be listening along as James hoarsely told them about whatever was going on that they were going to have to pay attention to. It all sounded like tournament protocol talk- not interesting, but incredibly important to be brought up.

Junior was glad that James was so willing to go through the boring topics that nobody seemed to want to deal with or talk about. He knew for a fact that James didn’t like having to talk to the group about these things, but there wasn’t much of a choice in it. Someone had to do it, and James just tended to be the better public speaker. 

There was also some part of Junior that suspected that James just  _ liked  _ being able to be in a position of control over a room full of people. Even on a good day, James had a tendency to be a bit of a control freak, Junior knew that perfectly well. He’d been on the receiving end of James’ frustrations enough that he knew to just let James take the reins sometimes. If James was micromanaging, it usually meant slightly less stress for Junior at the end of the day.

Junior paused and pulled out two more steel chairs- one for himself, and another that Roman was going to be able to use whenever he arrived. He set them up beside each other and just sank down into the one that was nearest to where James was sitting.

It almost felt like his muscles and bones had somehow turned entirely to goo, and so being able to sit down and just relax for a minute or two felt like the most amazing thing in the world. Junior let his eyes slip shut and just listened to James’ voice as he explained what their food plans were probably going to end up looking like on the day of the tournament.

Food sounded  _ amazing. _

In fact, Junior was fairly certain that he would have done horrible things for a meal at that moment, but the knowledge that Roman was on the way with their dinner was exciting. They could have just ordered it for delivery, but Roman had insisted on heading out to get everything himself. It would save money that way, he’d said.

Junior was glad to have someone like Roman on his side to help out around the gym. It was just a question of when food was finally going to arrive.

On the far end of the gym, Junior heard the door open and he felt a wave of relief over the knowledge that it was going to be Roman arriving. When that sound was followed quickly by the wafting scent of their dinners, Junior looked over at James who just sighed heavily.

He figured it was just a matter of James being well aware that there was absolutely no way that he was going to be able to continue to hold everyone’s attention with Roman’s arrival and the promise of food that came with it. Besides, James probably hadn’t eaten much of anything that day himself and was going to end up needing the time as well. But because it was James, he was still frustrated.

Roman slipped into the office through the open door, and was immediately greeted by Taiyang leaning back in his seat and trying to stare up into his eyes. It was a fairly normal pose for Taiyang, and Roman seemed to take it in stride by just winking at the blond before he took a moment to just set down the large paper bag that he was carrying with him.

Everyone sat there and waited patiently as Roman began to pass the food that he’d brought with him before setting a receipt down on the center of the desk. “If everyone could just pay me back for their stuff-” He said with a slight shrug. “I’d  _ really _ appreciate it.”

“Not a problem.” Taiyang answered with a slight shrug as he began to unwrap his food. “Thank you for everything, Roman.”

Roman smiled and took his seat before leaning back into it himself. “It’s no problem at all.” The orange-haired man said as he relaxed a bit. “If it’s what i need to do to make sure that the team is happy and healthy, and be a part of it, I don’t mind getting sandwiches. Even if you guys have questionable taste.”

“You think that you aren’t part of the team?”

The voice that came up next wasn’t one of the ones that everyone would have normally expected. Normally, he wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but it was rare that Raven was the one to bring happiness to a room. It didn’t tend to be her style. Distant was Raven’s preferred method of existence, everyone knew that.

Almost every head in the room turned so that they could look at Raven, who just crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in her seat.

She stared at Roman, expression too cool and entirely too schooled. It was almost like she was just doing her best to throw him off, to remind him that he wasn’t the best or the biggest person in the room, but at the same time it looked like Roman couldn’t quite read what she was trying to do. With Raven he never seemed to know what she was thinking, and this was no exception by any means.

“Sorry?” Roman asked, leveling his eyes on the woman and doing his absolute best not to let her throw him off. “You-”

“You’re one of us.” Raven responded to him before he got a chance to finish what he was saying. “ _ Whether you like it or not _ .”

The room was silent until Taiyang was shifting awkwardly and turning so that he could give Roman a look himself. “She’s right.” He said, smiling over at Roman for a second. Junior swallowed, not wanting to jump into the middle of this conversation, if only because he felt a certain sort of nervousness over all of it.

He was fairly certain that what he said on this matter wasn’t going to end up mattering all that much anyways.

If this was going to be a matter of seeing whether or not Roman could be considered a part of the group, then Junior was mostly content to stay back and let the others talk. They all knew what his verdict was probably going to be. That fact also left him feeling a bit bitter, at least on some level.

He wished that he wasn’t in a position where he had obvious biases showing, but it appeared that he wasn’t going to get much of a choice in that matter at this point. He couldn’t help what he was feeling about Roman- he couldn’t help it any more than anyone else in the room did.

So in theory, having Raven and Taiyang reacting to Roman as they were now was a good thing.

That said, Junior couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it was entirely possible that there was something wrong that nobody wanted to address. He could have been wrong- in fact, he was sure that he was probably wrong about that feeling.

But he couldn’t quite ignore it either.

“Well,” Roman started to speak but paused, like there was something that he was just afraid to talk about or deal with. "You do know, Raven, I really appreciate the sentiment."

"Yeah." Raven deadpanned, still choosing not to break her eye contact that she'd so strongly established with Roman. Junior swallowed, because that made him feel a little bit nervous, but it wasn't quite enough that he felt the need to worry too much. At the end of the day, this was likely going to end with everyone acting mostly in a calm manner.

Unless something taboo got brought up, then they were going to be able to maintain the somewhat fragile peace in the rom.

It could have been worse, but Junior was ready to deal with whatever needed to be handled as it came up.

Roman hummed in a way that made him seem almost nervous about the way that things were, but it clearly wasn't that bad. If anything, it was probably just a case of Roman trying to deflect any awkwardness away from him so that he was going to end up with a bit less to worry about later down the line.

But it was Roman, so nothing was able to be handled in a manner that didn't require at least a little bit of flair to get things done. In a way, that was what a lot of the charm of having someone like Roman around was, but Junior did his best not to let himself get too wrapped up in that. He was getting to a point where he was sure that Roman liked to use charm and charisma as a way to distract people away from what was really going on in his head.

It reminded him of a lot of people, some of which sat in that room with them.

"Well," Roman's expression split into a too-wide grin as he began to unwrap the food that he'd gotten for himself, which seemed like it was some sort of vegetable sandwich in a spinach based wrap. "I do have to say, I am absolutely  _ honored _ that you consider me to be a part of the team, Raven." Roman hummed quietly again, and Junior wondered what the purpose of it was. Roman liked to make everything that he did mean  _ something-  _ that was just how Roman was.

Raven was the same way though. She didn't hide behind charisma to get things done, she preferred to use a guise of power to keep her safe and make it possible for her to just do whatever she wanted to do. It was a tactic that Junior had learned was one that he could have used many years ago- when you were big enough and people were sure that you could kick their ass on the spot, they tended not to bother you too much.

And Raven had using the appearance of incredible power down to an art form.

So when she spoke, it was with a certain sort of venom that Junior knew better than to let himself read into. This was just a case of Raven doing her best to get things done in a strange situation. This was her trying to keep from letting a weakness show, even though there wasn't technically any reason for her or Roman to be trying to exploit each other's weaknesses.

"You know-" Raven's face turned into a smirk of her own, though hers was a little bit scarier than what Roman brought to the table. Junior was sure that it was because he had days where even he ended up feeling like he was a little bit afraid of Raven. "-If you were smart, you wouldn't be letting it go to your head like this."

"Oh, Raven." Roman's eyes darkened slightly as the gambit that the two of them were sharing got more intense. More interesting. "I don't like to let  _ anything _ go to my head unless it’s-” Roman stopped himself mid sentence and picked his head up. James was shooting him a rather unimpressed look. Roman grimaced before continuing. “Point is, I'm just here to help, and if you have a problem with-"

"That's enough."

The entire room seemed to snap to attention as the mostly exasperated sounding James interrupted the arguments so that he could try and get things to calm back down enough that people could just enjoy their meals.

James' eyes travelled to Raven, and then to Roman and he let out a sigh that made him sound like he was just completely done with everything that was going on in his life. If Junior's guess was right, that was the most genuine thing that he'd ever heard out of James.

"Pardon?" Roman asked, smirking at James. "Have something to say there, big guy?"

"Yes." James said, his eyes flickering back over in Raven's direction and even narrowing slightly in annoyance. "It would be prudent for you both to stop with the arguments while you're in the office." He leaned back into his seat slightly and made himself look just a bit more comfortable in the desk chair that he presently occupied. "We have meals, and I was hoping that I'd see everyone enjoying them instead of arguing over who is a part of the team or not."

James' voice darkened considerably with those words, and he even shot Taiyang a quick glance with them. Junior didn't miss the way that all of the color seemed to drain out of the blond's face over that. Junior couldn't blame Taiyang- James was damn scary when he wanted to be.

"So what you're saying is-"

"What I'm saying is that you both need to sit down, be quiet, and eat your food." James cut Roman off before the man could finish. Junior was slightly grateful for that reaction from James, if only because it gave him a certain sort of comfort. Someone was doing their best to keep the peace.

That was more than normally could be said. 

James had the ability to get the room to calm down, and after he had finished saying his peace, everyone was able to fall into a comfortable sort of quiet as they began to do their best to enjoy their meals and get through the day without causing too much trouble. Junior swallowed nervously and looked down at his sandwich for just a moment.

There were a lot of things that Junior wanted to say or do, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do them. For a moment, he let his eyes flick over to Roman, who had relaxed back into his seat and made himself comfortable. Their eyes met for just a moment, and Junior almost felt like there was something silent being said between the two of them, which neither of them wanted to voice out loud.

It was deeply uncomfortable, for a lot of people, but Junior didn't mind it so much.

The knowledge that they were doing so well as a group went a long way. Despite the playfulness and the bickering, they were functioning perfectly well as a group. There was an odd camaraderie that had formed, even with the most unlikely bonds that had formed between the various people there.

Junior smiled softly, and said nothing.

Deep down, he knew that he loved every single one of them, though it may have been different from person to person.


	48. The Platinum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unable to sleep, Roman goes out to the bar and finds a familiar face.

When Roman finally arrived at home, he was exhausted. The night at the gym had been fun, but Roman had ultimately decided that it was probably for the better if he made sure to head home on his own and spend a night at his own apartment for the first time in a few days.   
  
That wasn't to say that he wasn't missing Junior, or any of the others just yet. Roman definitely enjoyed their company, but he couldn't go ahead and stick around with them constantly. It was odd, but comfortable. The best chance that he had to spend time with them was to go to work and help around the gym.    
  
Besides, Roman knew better at this point than to think that imposing on Junior's home was a good idea.    
  
But the moment that he walked through the door to his apartment, Roman almost felt the need to stop for a little while. He was truly reminded of how  _ lonely _ he tended to feel when he was at home. Having Summer around was one thing, but to be able to have any sort of relief from the loneliness was incredibly rare at home. 

Roman closed his eyes and just walked over to his bed. Maybe, if he wanted to he could close his eyes and he would be able to imagine that Junior was still there, in his bed beside him. Roman knew perfectly well that it was going to be impossible to get the guy's scent out of his head.    
  
This was going to be hard, being home. Especially at a time where he was starting to attach so closely to the others around the gym. That wasn't to say that Roman didn't care for all of them deeply, or miss home it was just...   
  
It felt like it was bringing back a lot of feelings that he hadn't wanted to deal with again. Once upon a time, he had been able to go to Summer's whenever he needed to be with people and that had been enough, until he inevitably had to go back to the group home where he was raised.    
  
It was lonely.    
  
Roman was at a point where he was caught up in loneliness and ready to just go.    
  
He may have laid in bed for a while just trying to clear his head when Roman realized that there wasn't going to be any calm coming from this. There wasn't going to be any relaxation, there wasn't going to be anything that was going to be enough to get rid of those thoughts swirling in his head.    
  
At around midnight, Roman got up, called a cab, and dressed himself so that he could go out to the bar, even if it was going to be for just a little while. This wasn't like the times that he used to do this sort of thing in the past, Roman told himself.    
  
He wasn't going out looking for someone to go home with. Mostly, he just wanted a drink prepared by someone that wasn't himself and to be able to listen to a good company.    
  
The cab came, and Roman took the ride across town to The Platinum. There were a thousand bars in the city that he could have gone to, but he chose this one because it was his best chance at making sure that he got a discount for everything that he did that night.    
  
That was the best perk of what he did for his job.    
  
He got to make sure that he didn't have to pay so much money for things.    
  
The truth of the matter was that Roman didn’t actually know why he was going out for drinks that night. He didn’t know what he was looking for, or what he was hoping to find. All that he really had in his head was the thought that he would be able to calm himself down and clear his head just a little bit. 

All that he really wanted at the end of the day was to be able to get by without thinking about the gym every three seconds.    


When he walked into The Platinum, Roman was immediately struck by both the scent of alcohol and perfume that hung a little too heavily on the air, and the sound of the music pounded into his skull in a way that could only be described as pleasant.    
  
He made his way to the bar and took a seat and was sure to make a quick order for a drink. At first, Roman didn't even notice the man taking a seat beside him in hopes that he was going to be able to find some company.    
  
Roman didn't pay him any attention at all, until he turned his head to finally get a look at the guy.    
  
As it turned out, a familiar face was more or less what Roman wanted. The fact that the face in question would be Qrow's was a surprise, and the fact that he was going to be able to take a moment to relax was nice.    
  
Just whether or not that was going to be possible with Qrow was a big question.    
  
"Hey." Qrow said, balancing a glass that was filled with ice and a dark amber liquid between his fingers as he looked over at Roman. "How's it going?"    
  
"Qrow." Roman smiled slightly as he took his drink and took the first sip of it. The flavor was fruity, and a bit sour. It was pleasant. "I'm just trying to clear my head a bit."    
  
"So you came here?" Qrow laughed quietly and set his drink down before turning so that he could face Roman properly. "You know it’s a little bit late to be here, right?"    
  
"Yeah." Roman said, narrowing his eyes slightly and focusing his gaze onto Qrow's. "So what's your excuse?"    
  
Qrow didn't say anything, just shrugged slightly and had another sip of his drink, draining down what was left of the glass before setting it down on the counter in front of him. "Needed to clear my head." Qrow answered finally. "Seems like you know what that's like."    
  
"Yeah." Roman said quietly. "What specifically is it?"    
  
Qrow shook his head. Roman imagined that if he was allowed to be smoking in that bar, Qrow would have been doing so. It just looked right for him. Maybe it was thoughts like that which had driven him into that corner with Qrow not that long ago.    
  
There was a silence that hung between the two of them as they tried to figure out what they wanted to do or say. The music in the bar was one thing that did its best to interrupt, but Roman didn't  mind it so much.    
  
"Just thinking about someone." Qrow said with a quiet sigh. "You?"   
  
"The same." Roman said quietly, with a slight shake of his head. "I get the feeling that I know who's in your head."    
  
"You say that like you don't feel like it’s obvious who's in your head." Qrow laughed, but it was a bitter thing that spoke to how they were both feeling. There was a lot that either of them wanted to address.    
  
There was that fear there to get too close to each other.    
  
Roman shook his head and smiled slightly himself. "Could be worse." He said, just as quietly as he could manage. "He's a good guy."    
  
"Yeah, Junior is." Qrow mumbled, entirely too quietly. “You love him?”   
Roman had to think hard to figure out whether or not he had an answer to Qrow's question. It was one of those things that he was fairly certain that there wasn't anyone alive that would be able to answer so easily. He liked Junior, sure, but he'd never really thought about the word love in regard to the man.    
  
He wasn't the one to deal with this sort of thing. He wasn't the one to think about the long term of a relationship, or to think about what came next for him. It was always about acting in the now, not anything else. It was always about just having fun while he could manage it.    
  
Roman stared down into his drink and just watched the way that the neon lights of the bar above them shone on the surface of the liquid. Red, shining on blue. "I don't know." Roman said finally. "I haven't really thought about it."    
  
He let his eyes flick over to Qrow, who was entirely too focused on his own drink. For once, Roman realized that he and Qrow had quite a bit in common. It almost felt like the two of them had a lot shared that neither of them wanted to voice. It felt like he and Qrow were kindred spirits at that point.    
  
"I get that." Qrow finally said, his voice deathly quiet. "I hope you can figure it out sometime."    
  
"Yeah." Roman managed, voice barely above a whisper.    
  
Qrow was there, still silent as ever and staring down into his drink with an expression on his face that was nothing but bitter. He closed his eyes, and Roman wanted to reach out to help him.    
  
It didn't feel like there was any way to make that happen.    
  
"It's just-" Qrow started to say something. "Junior's a nice guy, you know?" Pause. "He's going to be there for everyone as much as he can be, until it breaks him down to nothing." Qrow shook his head again. "He needs someone out there that wants to help him and be there for him."    
  
"What are you trying to say?"    
  
Qrow shifted and raised a hand to flag down the bartender so that he'd be able to get another drink. Roman almost wanted to go ahead and do the same, despite the fact that he hadn't finished his drink quite yet. He sipped at it and waited quietly.    
  
"I don't know." Qrow finally said, deathly quiet. "Just that he deserves someone that'll make him happy."    
  
"You think I fit that bill?"   
  
"Maybe." Qrow said with a shrug. He closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "If you want to be."    
  
Roman paused, and he couldn't think of anything that he wanted to say to Qrow. "I think I want to be, I just don't know if I'm ready to throw around a word like love yet."   
  
"I get that." Qrow said finally, pausing on his words warily. "I don't think I'm ever going to be ready for that word."    
  
Roman watched Qrow, the way that those red eyes stared into a nothingness that he couldn't get past.    
  
"Qrow?"    
  
"Yeah, Red?"    
  
"I want to ask you something." Roman said quietly.    
  
"Yeah." Qrow responded quietly. "Go for it."    
  
"Okay." Roman mumbled. "What's going on with you and James?" Pause. "I mean, for real. I've gotten some word of mouth stuff but-"    
  
"I get that." Qrow mumbled quietly. "I don't know." He finally gave an answer that was ultimately going to be nothing more than unsatisfying. "Things are weird when it comes to him. It’s like he’s allergic to figuring it all out."   
  
Roman shifted his body on the barstool that he'd taken so that he could just watch Qrow's expressions as he got the guy talking about some of what was going on. It probably wasn't going to be much, and even if Qrow did end up answering some of his questions, Roman was still sure that he was going to be left trying to figure things out even still.    
  
"Do you..." Roman paused, weighing the question on his tongue carefully so that he couldn't end up accidentally throwing things off for the two of them. "Do you want to talk about it?"    
  
Qrow didn't answer at first. He just stared across the bar blankly and only seemed to react to the things that were going on around him when the bartender finally showed back up with a second drink in hand for Qrow. He took it and was immediate to drink from it.    
  
"I dunno." He finally said, setting his drink down in front of him. "It's complicated, you know." A pause. "What I mean is..." Qrow stared down into the drink's depths instead of over at Roman. "He wasn't always... like that, you know?"    
  
"Qrow?"    
  
"I mean, the thing where he's usually mean." Qrow explained. "He used to be about the sweetest guy you'd ever met. Scared, but sweet. Heart of gold, that one."    
  
"So..."    
  
"We..." Qrow paused. "We weren't dating or anything like that, just were really close. Occasionally we'd-" His voice trailed off, and Roman was sure that he was able to fill in the blanks on his own. "Doesn't matter." Qrow finished. "We were close. That’s the point."    
  
Roman nodded slowly, deciding that it was probably for the best if he just stayed back and let Qrow take the lead. Both of them needed someone to talk to by the looks of things, and Roman was willing to listen as long as Qrow was going to be willing to listen to him when he talked about the complicated situation between himself and Junior.    
  
Realizing what Roman was doing, Qrow kept talking. "I wish I could still be around down at the gym, you know that?"    
  
"I figured as much." Roman said quietly. "You know, Raven said that you were planning to make your way back into Xiong's."    
  
Qrow shrugged. "It was a thought that I had. I don't think it'd actually work, but if I could, I'd like to." He paused. "Green's is good, but it's not home, if that makes sense."    
  
That left Roman's heart sinking as he was brought back to the very reason that he'd left his apartment that night. It didn't feel like home, despite the fact that he'd been living there for quite some time. A gym wasn't necessarily the same as an apartment, but the same principles applied.    
  
It left Roman wracking his mind to figure out whether there was something that he and Qrow could do that would be considered mutually beneficial. Whether or not there was something that would be able to get them both the help that they needed to fix some of the things going on in their lives.    
  
SOmething came to mind, and Roman couldn't do much of anything to stop himself from bringing it up. "So," He said quietly. "I want to ask you something about this tournament that's coming up."    
  
Qrow paused, seemingly unable to come up with a response. All he did was look over at Roman and give him a weird look that Roman couldn't quite identify. "Shoot." He said, finally.    
  
"Green's is hosting this tournament, isn't it?" Roman leaned forward against the counter, which was enough that he was able to start putting himself into Qrow's personal space. It was just a way of getting through to the other guy and making it so that Qrow couldn't ignore him.    
  
"Yeah, we are." Qrow answered after a moment, leaning back in his seat. "Why do you bring it up?"    
  
Roman hummed quietly. "I was thinking that you and I could... I dunno, help each other out."    
  
Qrow raised an eyebrow again.    
  
"Look-" Roman sighed heavily. "I think it would mean a lot to the guys up at Xiong's if they got a chance to see the place that they're supposed to be competing in ahead of time." He blinked. "Clearly the people at Green's put some stock in you."    
  
That said all that it needed to say, judging by Qrow's expression and the way that he nodded slowly as he thought over what Roman had said. He sipped his drink again, and Roman found himself mimicking.    
  
He was sure that his drink probably tasted a lot better than whatever it was that Qrow was putting into his body.    
  
Finally, Qrow responded, slamming his empty glass down onto the counter in front of him. "If I were to help you out with that, what's in it for me?"    
  
Roman blinked. That was probably going to be the hardest question that he was going to be left having to answer, and he had accepted that fact long ago. One thing at a time, Roman reminded himself. This was manageable.    
  
"Depends on what you want, I guess." Roman said quietly. "You want to get a chance to come back to Xiong's, I think this would be a good one." Pause. "Not fast enough for the tournament but-"    
  
"You think that me letting them into the building some night would make them want to take me back at Xiong's?" Qrow laughed quietly. "James won't fall for that."    
  
"He doesn't have to." Roman said quietly. "I've..." He had to pause and think over what he wanted to say. "If Junior wants you back that bad, I don't think he'll fight James on it."    
  
"That's-"    
  
"I know." Roman responded with a quiet sigh. "It’s complicated, but you and James clearly have some stuff that you need to work out sometime." Pause. "It'd be an in, you know?"    
  
Qrow nodded slowly and finally he turned so that he could lock his eyes with Roman as he too came up with something that he wanted to say. This was almost assuredly going to be something that neither of them were going to be able to properly negotiate. It was going to be difficult, but what needed to be done was going to be what needed to be done.    
  
Roman was fairly certain that both of them were aware of that fact.    
  
"Yeah." Qrow said finally. "It'd be an in." A pause. "Here's what I'll say to you, Red-"    
  
"Keep talking." Roman leaned in slightly.    
  
"I'll help you guys into Green's in two nights. In return, I want you to make sure that I can come and train there at Xiong's in my spare time." Pause. "Think you can do that?"   
  
"I think I can." Roman said with a quiet noise of his own. "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Qrow."    
  
"Yeah." Qrow laughed, the sound all too husky. "Guess so."    
  
Roman smirked and just made himself comfortable, draining down the rest of his drink, and when it was time to go, he was left pausing for a moment. He looked Qrow up and down, and wondered whether he should ask where the guy was staying or not.    
  
Ultimately, he decided it was inappropriate.    
  
The two of them said their goodbyes and exchanged numbers so that the two of them would be able to stay in contact for as long as they needed before the night at Green's came along.    
  
Roman left the bar, feeling much better about himself, and feeling like he would actually be able to rest easy for a bit that night. He was finally able to start getting things looking a lot better around the gym, and he hadn't expected for that chance to come in the form of Qrow Branwen of all people.    
  
He was going to have work to do come morning. Roman was already planning the morning ahead of him in his head. The odds were that he was going to have to get up, run over to the office for a bit and handle some phone calls and emails, then he was going to have to make his way back over to Xiong's afterwards.    
  
Once he was at Xiong's he was going to have to talk to James and Junior both, and then a lot of things were going to be left in their hands. The possibility that the two of them were going to be coming under some scrutiny for their meeting at a bar was there, but Roman was sure that he was going to be able to explain this one away to Junior.    
  
James was another story, but he could make it clear that what happened between himself and Qrow was innocent.    
  
After all, all that the two of them had done together was just talk.    
  
Roman climbed into bed, and made himself as comfortable as he could possibly manage before slipping away to sleep for the night in the hopes that he was going to be able to get things better for them come morning.    
  
One thing at a time, he reminded himself as he drifted off to sleep.    
  
When it finally overtook him, he hadn't been able to calm his head down enough for him to rest completely easy, but at the very least, he was able to rest.    
  
Everything after that was going to depend on the morning itself. 


	49. A Change in Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman comes to Xiong's with news about his meeting with Qrow.

Almost as soon as he was free from his office for the day, Roman was rushing his way across the city to Xiong's so that he could tell them about what had transpired the night before. 

Roman didn't bother to do anything to make himself look a bit more presentably for where he was going- he could get by in his nice shoes and clothes because he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to end up being there at the gym all day. In theory, this was going to be a fast visit. No need for gym clothes or for extra niceties.   
  
At least, that was Roman was telling himself as he pulled up to the Xiong’s Fitness parking lot. There were more car there than Roman was used to seeing, and it left him wondering about whether he’d missed something on their schedule. Roman hoped that wasn’t the case- he was their promoter. It was his job to know what was going on at Xiong’s.

For a moment, Roman found himself worrying about the matter, but Roman wouldn’t let himself get slowed down over some cars in the parking lot.

It probably just meant that most of Xiong's clientele had shown up to go ahead and train that day (it occurred to Roman that he definitely hadn’t met all of their patrons.) Roman closed his eyes and sighed, taking in a deep breath, and then he pulled the front door open to see what was going on in Xiong’s.     
  
Roman would only be able to be shocked by what was on the other side of that door. 

Inside, there was a small group of children there, and James was in the ring, patiently walking them through some low level stuff. It didn’t seem to be serious, but at the very least, it seemed to be going well. Roman paused by the door for a minute, realizing that James seemed surprisingly  _ happy _ helping and teaching. It was a surprise, if nothing else. 

But Roman couldn’t focus on that for too long. He was soon to turn and search out Junior.   
  
Sure enough, Junior was there, talking to Taiyang as the blonde beat away at one of the many punching bags. Roman bit his lip, because technically what he needed to talk about was going to be something that would be best discussed with James there for input (regardless of whether James would allow himself to give it.) Maybe his news was going to be something that he needed to just wait and come back later for.    
  
But he was already here, and there was no way that the class was going to be there all day. Assuming that he had arrived for the beginning, it would probably on be an hour at most. The good thing was that Roman’s schedule was empty for that night.    
  
Roman took a deep breath and approached Taiyang and Junior. "Hey." He greeted them, and Taiyang ended up missing the punching bag with the punch that he was throwing. He looked over at Roman, and Junior did as well. Neither of them seemed that unamused. Mostly, the two of them just looked confused by the fact that Roman was there to begin with.    
  
"Roman!" Taiyang greeted him excitedly. "What brings you here this fine afternoon?"    
  
"Hello, Roman." Junior said with a shy sort of smile on his face. "I could ask the same as Tai."    
  
"I'll explain soon." Roman said, biting his lower lip and looking back over his shoulder at James and the class. "Care to-"    
  
"He advertised something on craigslist and some people bit." Junior answered with a shrug. "At least that’s what James said. He didn't tell anyone either way, but we've made a couple hundred today for facilities and a little on top of that for class fees.”   
  
Roman hummed, a little bit surprised because this was typically something that he should have been doing. However, if it worked, it worked. "Surprising. I’m glad he found such good traffic next to the hookers and people getting rid of their dogs." He said finally. "Any idea when they clear out?"   
  
"About twenty minutes from now." Junior said, his voice still quiet. "Should we call the others to come here? I get the feeling you’re here for a reason."  


Roman paused. He didn't _think_ that he was going to need the entirety of Team Xiong there to talk about what was going on, but it probably would be for the best if Raven was there for the meeting. This did technically pertain to her, after all.   
  
He locked his eyes with Taiyang's. The blonde's skin was flushed, and he had some of his hair sticking to his forehead due to sweat. "Think you can get Raven here?"   
  
"Raven?" Taiyang's brow furrowed in some confusion. "Why do you need-"   
  
"Just trust me on this one, Tai." Roman said as he took a seat on one of the unused benches. "It'll be for the best."   
  
Taiyang didn't protest it. He just shrugged and slipped out of his gloves before going off to find his phone. That left Roman and Junior alone, at least for a little bit.   
  
Junior smiled at him. "This is important, right?" Roman couldn't be surprised by the fact that Junior was asking him that question. It was one of those things that was completely justified to bring up, especially considering that Taiyang and Junior had been training.   
  
"Incredibly." Roman answered Junior, flashing the much larger man a smile for a moment. "I’m telling you guys, you are going to be thanking me for this." For a second he wondered if he should pause and tell Junior what had happened the night before. There was still that possibility that the revelation that Roman had spent time with Qrow at a bar could go poorly, but in theory, everyone might be so excited by the fact that they had an in at Green's before the tournament that they were going to.  
  
Maybe that would be enough to keep a lot of questions from being asked.   
  
Roman's eyes flicked back over to the ring, where he could see James carefully coaching two kids through a light spar.   
  
If things were going to go poorly over this reveal, it was probably going to be from James or Raven. Roman was putting his money on James.  
  
Junior raised an eyebrow in a show of visible concern over whatever was going on. "What did you do?"  
  
"I'll explain." Roman said, rolling his eyes slightly. "Promise. It's nothing bad."   
  
"You mean it?"   
  
"Yeah." Roman flashed Junior one of his more confident smiles. "Promise."   
  
Almost on cue, Taiyang was rejoining the two of them and dropping his phone onto the bench next to Roman. "She's going to be here in fifteen." Taiyang announced proudly as he picked his gloves back up. "Weirded out though."  
  
Roman frowned. He supposed that he probably shouldn't have been worrying too much about what was going on, but the lack of confidence in what he was bringing to the table for the gym wasn't the most encouraging thing.   
  
Taiyang and Junior set back to work, and soon enough Raven was arriving, and James was bidding his class farewell for the day. As it turned out, James hadn't missed Roman's arrival, and he was quick to meet everyone over by the punching bag where Taiyang was still working away.   
  
"What's going on?" James said, sipping from a bottle of water. "Shouldn't you be working?"   
  
"I _am_ working, excuse you." Roman said, giving James an almost playful nudge on his left elbow before standing up on the bench so that he had just a bit of elevation over all of the others. "I figured that I should probably tell you guys that I had a really interesting night."   
  
"Nobody cares about your sex life." Raven deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest. For just a second her burning red eyes flickered over to Junior and Roman saw the way that her lips quirked. It was possible that she knew, Qrow realized.   
  
"It's not about that, thank you very much." Roman responded with a roll of the eyes. "I ran into Qrow last night and he and I cut a little deal."  
  
"You ran into-" Junior started, but Roman raised a hand.   
  
"Let me explain." He said quietly. "I went to the bar because I needed to clear my head, ran into him there. We got talking, and he agreed that if I could help him with something, he was going to be willing to get you guys into Green's in a night or two so that you can practice in the same rings that the tournament will be using."   
  
The group all went silent over that. It seemed like they were all thinking over what could have possibly been agreed to. Junior was the first to speak.   
  
"He's willing to do that for us?"   
  
"Yeah," Roman confirmed, smiling slightly and trying hard not to look over at James when he said that. "I have to help him with some stuff, but he'll help us out."   
  
James and Junior exchanged a look, and Roman saw that they locked eyes for a second and nodded. There was a silent conversation there which nobody seemed to be privy to.   
  
"A moment." James said, excusing himself and Junior for just a bit before slipping away from the rest of them so that they could talk things over and try to figure out what to do. James and Junior went to the office, and Roman was left alone with Taiyang and Raven.   
  
Raven stared him down. "What did you agree to."   
  
"I"m supposed to help him get in here after the tournament." Roman said quietly. "As part of Team Xiong." He let his gaze travel back over to the door to the office and he let out a quiet sigh. "I was supposed to talk to them when I got a chance to do that."   
  
"You really mean it then?" Taiyang asked. "You aren't just making up that he would do this stuff for us?"   
  
"Yeah, I really mean it." Roman confirmed. He figured that this was hard for any of them to be able to believe. "This is a good opportunity. I figured it was best that I didn't let it slide."   
  
"Makes sense." Raven replied before looking over at the door. "What do you think they're talking about?"   
  
Taiyang spoke up. "Probably James and Qrow’s same old not a relationship so they can’t be broken up bullshit." He paused for a moment before he shook his head. “Again.”   
  
Roman paused, mulling the question over in his head for himself. "Could be about whether they could get in trouble for going to Green's or not. Probably not the most legal arrangement being done here." 

It was a thought that was enough to leave Roman feeling fairly bitter. When he and Qrow had been talking about what they wanted to take as a course of action, the possibility that they could end up getting into trouble for using Green's without permission hadn't been something that they'd discussed. They had both been so worked up and caught in their own problems and were so focused on making agreements that nothing  like that could have come up in truth.   
  
He felt a momentary wave of guilt over it, and he couldn't think of what he could possibly go ahead and do to serve as some sort of a remedy for everything.   
  
The three of them waited, and when James and Junior returned, the two of them both seemed like they'd shared a fairly sobering conversation, but they'd made some serious progress in what they'd wanted to do. Junior looked between the three of them, and then smiled widely.   
  
"We've decided that we want to take him up on the offer-" Junior began, but soon he just hesitated, his mouth opening slightly like he was doing his best to say words that he didn't have the words to express. James spoke up and cut him off.   
  
"We don't believe that this was done purely out of charity." James explained, crossing his arms over his chest and watching Roman coolly. "Surely there was some sort of agreement made, but we would like to know what it is." James paused, weighing his thoughts. "Provided it isn't _too_ personal."   
  
Roman sighed heavily and just began to explain the terms that he and Qrow had discussed at the bar. Junior nodded along, while James listened silently and didn't do anything to show what he was thinking. Roman figured that was probably something that he should have expected.   
  
James and Junior exchanged a look, and when they'd come to a decision, Junior spoke. "We'll take him up on his offer." He said, calmly. "He's doing us a pretty huge favor by just wanting to offer us this sort of thing, and we want to be able to get a chance inside of Green's before the tournament.”   
  
There was a momentary pause where silence settled over them all.   
  
"It's the best way not to get everyone psyched out by the whole..."   
  
"Not knowing where they're fighting thing." James finished for Junior.   
  
Taiyang and Raven shared a quick look for just a moment, and there was something about it that made the two of them seem rather uneasy with the arrangement that had been come to. Roman figured that it was just Taiyang letting Qrow get into his head too easily again. "Do we know whether or not he's going to be training with us or not?" Taiyang finally asked.   
  
Roman mentally slapped himself. He knew fully well that he probably should have at least asked Qrow about that sort of thing. He'd figured that Qrow would be there just as a default matter because of the fact that he was the one getting them into the gym. They were going to have to keep it flawless inside and out when they were there, for sure.   
  
But he had to be able to give Taiyang some sort of answer to his question, Roman reminded himself. He needed to at least try to say something that could end up being useful for them to know later on. "Yeah." Roman finally said, knowing that was about the best that he could give them to hold onto and think about when everything came together. "He probably is going to be training with us."   
  
Taiyang mostly looked like he was thoroughly annoyed over this sort of thing. He didn't want to ask him about what was going on in his head, but Roman could have easily guessed what it was all about. The fact that Taiyang and Qrow had a bit of a history of getting into each other's heads was definitely a factor. Roman had seen Taiyang get pulled away from the others to get talked through Qrow's mind games enough that he knew better than to just accept that things were going to be good.   
  
Roman knew for a fact that there was more than enough bitterness there that he was going to have quite a bit to look out for in the near future.   
  
"If my little brother starts being an ass, I'll kick his dumb ass so hard he’s back in the womb." Raven spoke up now, checking her nails as she spoke. "He's my brother, I know for a fact that he'll listen to me more than he'll listen to any of you."   
  
Taiyang looked over at Raven and his eyes narrowed for a second. "Why is it that everyone in your family's mean?"   
  
"Runs in the family." Raven responded with a slight smirk. "But really, if he gets out of hand, I'll handle Qrow."   
  
She and James locked their eyes for just a second, but neither of them said anything to each other. Everyone could have easily guessed what they were silently talking about and silently discussing. If Raven couldn't handle Qrow, then James was sure to jump in and try.   
  
"Alright." Taiyang stood up tall and flashed a wide grin at Junior. "I guess I'll be there for this whenever it is-" He stopped himself and leveled his blue eyes onto Roman now. "Two nights from now?"   
  
"Yeah." Roman responded as he reached down into his pocket so that he could get his phone and let Qrow know that there were people interested in coming up to Green's so that they could practice. He was sure that he was going to be hearing from him eventually, it was just a matter of waiting on Roman's part.  
  
Junior smiled. "I guess that settles it then." He locked those soft eyes onto Roman and it was enough to make Roman want to curl up in their warmth and drown there. Junior looked too good when it came to this sort of thing. "We'll be there."   
  
"Sounds good." Roman flashed Junior a grin in return, and he had to pause for a moment as he tried to figure out whether or not there was something else that he needed to address while he was there. "I let him know,  so once I have more details-" Roman leaned back where he was sitting. "I guess I'll have to let you guys know about what he wants to do."   
  
"It's going to be late, right?" Raven spoke up now, sounding mostly bored with the topic of conversation at that point.   
  
"Yeah." Roman confirmed with a nod. "For sure. We're going to have to go in, leave no trace that we were there, and then we are going to just end up with more to do and think about."   
  
This time, it was James that spoke up, clearly with whatever it was that was going through his head over the whole revelation. "You should all be thinking about the fact that if we get caught doing this, we and Qrow will almost assuredly be disqualified from the tournament."   
  
Roman's heart sank when he realized exactly what James was saying. If they got caught, it was entirely possible that this was going to be the end of Xiong's Fitness. They were at a point where they couldn't afford to be disqualified for anything, and Roman wasn't going to let himself forget that.   
  
Let alone anyone else.  
  
What James had said seemed like it had been more than enough to sober the entire group. They all knew exactly what James was saying, and Roman was sure that it was probably enough to make sure that they would have nothing to worry about ultimately.   
  
Everyone was going to watch their backs on this.   
  
"So-" Roman flashed a wide grin, hoping that it was going to be enough to lighten the mood in the room. "I told you that you guys were going to be thanking me for this, didn't I?"  
  
Surprisingly, James cracked a small smile. "I suppose you did." He said, his voice mostly quiet. "Thank you for bringing us this opportunity, Roman."   
  
"It's really no problem." Roman said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I wasn't looking for this sort of thing to help us out, but I can't pretend like I was going to turn down the chance if it was given to me." Roman checked his phone- no response from Qrow.   
  
"Well, either way." Junior spoke up now. "We haven't gotten a chance to do something like this before, and I think we're all glad for the chance to do it."   
  
Roman smiled and just wanted to reach over and offer some sort of comfort or something to the others. Something to assure them that there was no way that this was going to go wrong, or that it wasn't a trap of some sort. He couldn't guarantee them anything, but Qrow had been more than sincere enough that he wasn't reading into what was going on or Qrow's actions.   
  
They had help that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. That had to count for a lot.   
  
That was the best that he could hope for, Roman told himself and he just smiled widely to the others. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, the sign that he probably should be getting ready to go back to work for the day. Roman sighed and looked between all of the others, since he was sure that he needed to address this.   
  
“Well,” He started quietly. “I think that it’s about time that I get going.” Roman pulled his phone out of his pocket and made sure that the alarm that had been set was turned off os that he wouldn’t risk annoying everyone else. “IT’s been lovely getting to talk to all of you.”   
  
“Right.” Junior swallowed slightly, and he smiled back at Roman. “Call us before the trip to Green’s?”   
  
Roman nodded. “Of course.”   
  
With that, he left for the day ahead, and they were off to make sure that things were well taken care of and finish off the other work that he had going on to worry about. After all, it was just a matter of getting things done.   
  
In a few days, he was going to be with them again, and they were going to be able to really get Team Xiong into gear.


	50. Green's Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow follows through on a promise.

The next two days of Junior’s life were primarily spent at the gym. For those two days, he and James were only really going home so that they could eat and sleep when it was necessary. It was somewhat grueling having to live like that, but to them it felt like it was necessary. Not getting downtime was something that they needed to hang onto for the next little while. After that, then they could relax again and go back to their usual schedules.

Despite the spartan living, things were actually going well. Everyone was looking like they were going to be making peak performances at the tournament. The awkwardness around the group seemed to have been calmed down a bit, and Junior was sure that on some level, they were all looking forward to what was coming up next.

He was also sure that they were all looking forward to what came after the tournament, even if some of them were afraid of what could happen and what could go wrong. Junior knew that he was afraid, as was James. He didn’t know which of them was more afraid, but they were going to be able to do well.

And if they didn’t….

Well, they’d surely have a lot to prepare for. It wasn’t as though they couldn’t find ways to get by without the gym, they just needed to find them.

It was going to be hard, but Junior knew that between him and James they would be able to figure things out.

They always did, after all.

But a few days had passed by since Roman had come to them all with the news that they were going to be able to go to Green's for a night so that they could train properly for a bit. Everyone was nervous about what was going to come ahead, and Junior knew that he was one of the ones that was probably the most fearful.

There hadn't been a second where the strong possibility that they were running into a trap hadn't occurred to Junior. They were going to figure this out, just they had to take it one thing at a time. That was all that Junior could tell himself, one thing at a time.

They would be able to relax soon.

Maybe.

Junior was in the middle of watching a spar between James and Taiyang, watching the way that James would stop Taiyang from time to time so that he could walk the man through some new instructions. It was something that they'd been through a hundred times or so, but still they went through the motions. Whether they were going through that particular tactic because they thought it would be helpful or because it was comforting to do was beyond Junior.

The sound of his phone ringing broke Junior out of his concentration. He tried to ignore the way that Raven stared at him for a moment in some sort of confusion over what was going on before he picked up. "Roman?"

"Yeah." The man on the other end of the phone answered. "I wanted to let you know that you should meet me at eight or so tonight." Roman explained. Junior closed his eyes, and let out a quiet sigh so that he could keep relaxed.

"Eight?" Junior said, almost awkwardly. "We can do that. No problem." He looked over at Raven for a moment and then up at the ring where James and Taiyang were still at work. "I'll rally the troops. I'll see you there."

Roman laughed quietly. "I'll see you there, baby bear." With that, he hung up, and Junior was left to turn off his phone. He needed to take a minute to relax and then he was making an announcement to the group that they had a time to be out of there. Everyone agreed, and Junior found himself biding his time until they had to leave for the day.

It wasn't particularly interesting, but Junior made it work. When it was time for Team Xiong to go, they all piled into their cars, and Junior ended up driving himself and James across the city so that they could get to Green's.

Both of them were silent for most of the trip, and Junior didn't need to guess why. He had things that he was worried about, but so did James. If he was right, then James had much more to be worried about than he did.

Not that he wanted to get involved in that.

"You going to be okay?" Junior asked James, keeping his voice as low as he could manage. He watched his brother, and couldn't act like he was surprised at all when he saw the sight of James' jaw tensing significantly.

"Yeah." James answered, quietly. "I think so."

"I know being around him is..." Junior paused, thinking hard on the best thing that they could say. "Hard."

James just nodded. "Do you think you're going to be okay?

"Me?" Junior raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You and Roman..." James shook his head again. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Junior sighed and pulled into the parking lot for what was once an old factory building that had been long since painted over repurposed into something else. They had to hold onto the possibility that things were going to go well instead of going terribly wrong.

The fact that they were at what one could call their biggest competition in the city for a secret training session wasn't one of those things that they wanted to talk about or deal with. Junior pulled around to the back of the building where they couldn't risk their car being seen from the street.

Every little thing that they could do to keep themselves from getting caught was something that needed to be done. The good thing was that when Junior pulled into the back, so did the car that was holding the others.

He parked and sucked in a deep breath, looking around for Qrow in the hopes that they were going to be let into the gym sooner than later. He didn't see Qrow anywhere, and when he looked over at James, he saw that his brother was in the process of getting out his phone and making a phone call.

The call that James made was incredibly short, just enough to make sure that he got through to Qrow, and when it was over, the back door to the gym opened and Qrow peeked out.

So that was it, Junior thought with a slight smile.  He looked around the parking lot to see whether or not Roman's car was there, and didn't see it. The thought occurred to him for a moment that it was entirely likely that Roman just hadn’t arrived yet.

That was okay.

Junior could handle a wait.

James gave him a look that was more than enough to tell Junior to stay in the car for the time being. He also raised a hand to signal to the others that he didn't want for them to come in yet, and so Junior was left to wait there while James approached Qrow. The two of them stood by the back door for close to a minute, and Junior was sure that it was just a matter of them trying to figure out how they were going to do things.

Maybe the two of them were just talking so that they would be able to try and calm the situation don enough that they wouldn't end up running into any awkwardness later on that wasn't needed. Either way, while Junior wished that he could know what was going on and what the two of them were discussing, he just waited.

Finally, Qrow pushed the door the rest of the way open, and James stepped just barely through the door before signaling to the rest that they could come. Junior let out a long-held breath and climbed out of the car, locking it behind him before heading towards the gym himself. There was a slow start while they all streamed into the building together, and then the door closed behind Junior.

Still no sign of Roman, he realized.

It had been a long time since Junior had last been to Green's gym. He'd been there once or twice in the past for tournaments, but it had been a pretty long time since he'd last felt the need to go there. Things were different, things were changed, but even still, this was the sort of place that businesses like his own strived to be.

It was an old factory building, that was true, but the inside of the gym had been refurbished to turn it into a clean looking place. The walls were lined with mirrors in some places, while others were covered over with posters or in-gym ranking boards. They had equipment around the gym that Xiong's could never imagine having themselves.

This was the mark of a gym that had money behind it.

While being there was enough to leave Junior feeling a bit jealous about how the gym was, it did leave Junior thinking about the possibilities that this could be what the future of Xiong's could end up looking like. He took a deep breath, and just watched as the various boxers began to set their things down on benches and begin getting ready for whatever was to come that day.

"Remember!" James called, raising his voice as he examined the edge of the boxing ring. "We can't leave behind any sign that we've been here. Everything is carry in- carry out, tonight, and none of you are going to be moving anything, understand?"

There were a few non-committal sounds from the others, but Junior knew that it was a good thing. It meant that they were listening.

"They're gonna be fine, Jimmy." Qrow said with a low laugh. Junior watched as the thin man climbed up into the ring by stepping up onto the side of it before sliding in between the ropes. "Just let them do their thing, I'm sure they know what they're doing."

James rolled his eyes, and walked to Taiyang's side for a moment to say something. Junior swallowed and reached down into his pocket, trying to shake off some of the nervousness that was gripping his chest and refusing to let him go. Roman still wasn't there, and that had him feeling beyond worried.

Unless perhaps Roman hadn't been planning to come along? Junior supposed that it was possible, considering that Roman did have other clients that he was sure that had ended up being ignored for some reason or another. It wouldn't have been a surprise at all if Roman just had other things to do but-

Junior thought back to the phone call that the two of them had shared earlier that day.  When the two of them had talked, it had sounded like they were going to be looking forward to seeing each other that night. He hadn't been thinking that he was going to be going to Green's without Roman there.

Especially when Roman was the one that had arranged for this whole thing to be able to happen in the first place.

Why wouldn't Roman be there?

Junior swallowed back his nerves and tried not to get too much more bogged down in his own head and just turned to watch as the fighters began to get their things together and dress themselves for the fight that was going to be coming ahead of them. He was sure that Qrow and Taiyang were already planning to give their almost inevitable fight a first go. He supposed that in theory that was going to be a way for the two of them to show what they had against each other, and so Junior couldn't help feeling a bit nervous about what was going to come.

If they sparred, it meant that Qrow and Taiyang were both going to have a good idea of what the other was capable of. Being able to watch them and try to quickly train Taiyang against whatever it was that Qrow had going for him was going to be useful, but Qrow was going to have the same possibilities.

They couldn't let their guard down.

But right now, it seemed like Taiyang and Qrow were just laughing along and getting ready for what was going to be a friendly match. It was a good thing.

Friendly was what they needed right now.

Slowly, Taiyang climbed up into the ring and began to stretch, warming himself up for a spar while James took a seat on one of the benches so that he could probably take as many mental notes as they could possibly end up needing in the long run.

Junior sighed heavily and decided to join James, who just nodded to him in greeting. Not much, but Junior also figured that was going to be able the best that he could get out of James in that moment. "Roman's not here."

"I noticed." James mumbled. "Qrow said he was running late."

Junior raised an eyebrow, since he was fairly certain that wasn’t all that the two of them had been talking about before the others had been allowed to come in. Just based on everything that he knew about James and Qrow both, Roman probably had been barely a passing mention.

Junior took a deep breath and he did his best to calm himself down as he thought hard on what James had just said. He needed to think, he needed to be able to not let himself get dragged down by this. At the end of the day, Junior knew that he was just worried about a friend- because who wouldn't be? If Roman was just running late as James said he was, that was one thing, it was just a matter of seeing whether or not that claim was true or not.

He looked over at James, watching the way that James trained his eyes on Qrow, but also Taiyang as the two men began to circle around each other. It was clear that James and Qrow had talked about something while he was there sitting in the car. Junior did wonder what the two of them had talked about. Whether they talked about keeping things civil or something else-

Up in the rink, Taiyang took a pretty rough punch to the shoulder and did his best to brush it off. The more of the match that was happening went on, Taiyang began to fall into it. He looked for anything that could possibly help them out later on. Holes, problems, deficiencies that Qrow had- anything that could have helped them out down the line.

There was the sound of a knock at the steel door that they had all come through, and Junior nearly felt himself jolt at the sound. His mind began to race with all of the possibilities for who it could have been, and what they were there for. It was entirely too likely that someone who went to the gym there regularly, or even the owner had come so that they could check on something or pick something up.

If that was it-

Qrow looked at Tai and shrugged before climbing down out of the ring and making his way over to the door so that he could at the very least find out who was there and more importantly, what they wanted. The entire time, it felt like the entire room had decided to train their eyes on Qrow as they all watched with bated breath and just waited for everything to go wrong.

"Hey, Red." Qrow said, and Junior felt himself relax significantly when he realized what it was. Roman had arrived.

"Let me tell you, Qrow, I have had a day." Roman announced himself as he stepped through the door, looking a bit exhausted and not at all like he actually belonged at a gym for any reason. It was enough to leave Junior smiling softly to himself.

That was just classic Roman, really. He liked that about Roman.

"Well why don't you tell the class about it." Qrow answered with a bored tone as he left the door swing shut behind Roman before accompanying the man a bit further into the gym. "Everything at work cleared up?"

"Yeah, I've got it." Roman held up his bag that Junior knew held all of the man's work materials. So he was planning to work while he was there by the looks of things, Junior realized. That wasn't such a bad thing- it just meant that Roman was going to be sticking around until everyone cleared out.

But Roman stopped just as he got to the outer circle of everyone that was there. He looked them all over and raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow as he scanned them over. "How long have you guys been here anyways?"

"Not long." Junior answered, shifting where he was sitting so that he could look up at Roman properly. "What happened?"

Roman saw him and smiled down at him before taking a seat next to Junior. It was enough to be a small relief to Junior. "I got caught up in an important call." Roman explained with a slight shrug. "New client wanted my help, and I needed to be able to get a full assessment of their situation."

Junior blinked, once again reminding himself that Roman did in fact have a number of other clients. He just didn't tend to talk about them much because there was never much to discuss. Junior was glad that the two of them had that conversation when they did, even if it did leave him feeling a little bit awkward as he realized that he knew a lot less about Roman than Roman knew about him.

But that was getting better.

"Well," Junior swallowed. "I'm glad you were able to make it."

"He was worried." James interjected from Junior's other side, with a smile on his face that could almost be read as cocky by someone that didn't know James any better. "Not that it matters." All at once, James rose to his feet and made his way over to the edge of the ring so that he could talk to Taiyang while Qrow climbed up into it himself. Junior watched the two talk, but tried not to get too bogged down in it.

If something was wrong, he was more than sure that he was going to end up being the first one to know about it. That was how things tended to be- if something was messed up, then he always was one of the first people to end up hearing.

The great benefits of being the one friend that everyone relied on, Junior thought, almost bitterly.

Roman shot Junior a look that was a little more than just a bit playful and began to feign as though he was seriously impressed, even turning to Junior and fake placing a hand over his heart or like he was clutching his pearls like a southern housewife. "You were worried about little old me?" Roman asked playfully, his eyes zeroing in on Junior. "Why I never-"

"Roman." Junior deadpanned, smiling up at the other man. "I was just expecting that you were going to be here when we got here is all."

"Well," Roman looked over at Junior. "Everything's fine. I just got caught up at work." Roman shrugged slightly and looked up at the ring to see what was going on. Junior decided that it was probably for the better if he looked himself, and he saw that James had climbed up and was currently hanging on the edge of the ring with his hands firmly grasping the ropes so that he wasn't going to end up falling if something went wrong.

Junior had to make a concentrated effort not to think about that.

"So-" Roman spoke again. "What are we even looking at."

"This?" Junior asked, his eyes darting back and forth between Qrow and Taiyang. "This is them sparring, but it also is them turning the tournament itself into a grudge match." He shook his head, trying hard to remind himself that it didn't do anyone any good if he ended up getting so down on such plans. "They're going to be fine, it's just putting them in an awkward situation."

"How much of this is a mental game?" Roman asked, just as Taiyang and Qrow bumped their gloves together to signal that they were both ready before beginning to circle in on each other. "Because if Tai's the way that he's been before-"

"It's all a mental game." Junior answered, hoping that it was going to be enough to at least slightly clarify what was going on. "They both get a lot out of this, but it risks tilting both of them pretty badly before they even step into the ring."

Roman stared up at him with a thoroughly confused expression written across his face, and Junior had to remind himself that it wouldn't really help anyone if he wasn't able to explain what the problem with all of this was. New terminology was never a good thing to have to worry about. "Tilt?"

Junior took a deep breath as he tried to find a good way to explain it. "It's when you lose the mental game so hard that you aren't able to get your head back in the first place." Junior dropped his volume significantly, if only because he didn't want the others realizing what had been brought up as a topic between him and Roman. "It means that they go into the ring angry, and when that happens, neither are fighting to win."

Realization dawned on Roman's face and he nodded slightly before he spoke up himself. "They'd be fighting to hurt."

"Exactly." Junior mumbled. "I used to be pretty prone to it, but now I just try to help the others so that they don't get bogged down thinking about that sort of thing."

"You're a real good friend, you know that Baby Bear?"

Junior paused, and he needed to think for a moment on that question. In theory he did know that he tended to be a good friend to the people around him, but normally that wasn't something that people would ever voice to him. Normally they were just content to give him small reminders once in a blue moon when they thought they needed it. Never like this.

Or maybe they had, but because it was coming from Roman it felt like it somehow carried more weight, even though it didn't.

Junior didn't know.

"I do my best." He answered eventually, his voice as low in volume as he could manage. He was almost quiet enough that his voice was able to get drowned out by the sound of Taiyang and Qrow trading blows up in the ring, and the occasional coach-like shouts that were coming from James and Roman respectively as they tried to guide their respective partner through the battle.

That was particularly interesting, Junior realized, because he realized very quickly that James wasn't shouting to Taiyang, and Raven wasn't shouting to Qrow.

Roman looked up at the ring himself and watched the two of them fight. It seemed like he had figured out what was going on himself, and hadn't wanted to talk about it himself. After all, this was pretty serious stuff to happen. If Raven had ended up cheering Qrow on, then it would have run the risk of making Taiyang jealous, after all.

But James cheering for Qrow, after everything that had happened over the last number of years.

That was interesting.

"Do you think that everyone's ready for this?" Roman asked finally, looking over at Junior with his eyes a little too bright. It made Junior almost feel like his heart was stuttering in his chest seeing Roman like that, and he never wanted to be able to forget that look on the man's face. He liked Roman, and he liked Roman for a lot of reasons.

But in that moment, Junior could have sworn that he saw a thousand things that he would never personally be able to identify, and every single one of them was beautiful, despite the fact that they were sitting together on a wooden bench in a poorly lit gym and watching two men beat each other for the sake of entertainment, when money was going to be their motivator later on.

Something about that moment just felt so right, and Junior didn’t know what it was. Slowly, he let his hand slide over to Roman’s and just let his fingers brush against the other man’s. Roman looked over at him and smiled softly when he realized exactly what Junior was doing before twining their fingers together carefully.

Junior gave a gentle squeeze and smiled over at Roman.

“It’s going to be okay.” Roman said quietly, doing his very best to reassure Junior about everything that was going on that day. “Trust me on that.”

“I do.” Junior answered, looking back up to the ring for a moment to watch as Taiyang delivered a particularly nasty strike to Qrow’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

Roman didn’t say anything to that. He just gave Junior’s fingers another gentle squeeze and let their touch linger for as long as the two of them needed it to. When they both seemed satisfied enough with the situation, their touches separated, and then Roman went to work.

Junior got up and went to the edge of the ring.

He had work to do too.


	51. In The Enemy Lair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green's has an interior!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you might notice that there's something new on this fic description now. I've finished writing the actual story, and it'll be a nice 71 chapters long!
> 
> Thank you reading along! I hope you enjoy where this story goes.

Watching people fight was always something that Roman didn’t have the most interest in. It just didn’t tend to do anything for him as a spectator as a general rule. Over the last bit of time that he’d spent with Xiong’s, he’d learned to look at that differently though. It wasn’t all about just inflicting damage, he had learned.

In fact, Roman was starting to see the beauty in them for real, and he could even see the excitement brought out of people when a match started and even better, he actually felt like he understood it now. So now, as he sat on a bench next to Taiyang, he watched as Junior and James of all people were getting ready to step into the ring.

Or more accurately, he was watching Junior stretch in the ring as he talked things through with Raven and Qrow, while James as off preparing himself for a fight.

Whatever  _ that  _ meant. Roman had made the elective decision not to read into what James was up to most of the time. It was better if he didn’t. 

Despite the laptop that was sitting in his lap, Roman couldn’t quite bring himself to concentrate on anything. There were a lot of reasons for that, like not having a proper workspace, and not wanting to focus on his phone, and that wasn’t even  _ beginning  _ to consider the fact that Junior was there, and had stripped off his shirt because he hadn’t brought anything to special to train in.

Someone had decided that talking James and Junior into a nice ring while they had a chance to use it was a good idea, especially because it meant that the others got a chance to rest.

And Roman was mentally cursing them for having made that decision because he couldn’t think of a single time that he’d ever had where he could concentrate even less.

After all, there were certain things about himself that Roman had always felt fairly secure in, and his attractions were one of those things. However, he had realized that there had never really been a time where he'd gotten to see Junior without clothes in the way for the most part.

And he liked what he saw.

Sure, Junior had always been attractive to him, that hadn't ever really changed, as far as Roman knew. But he hadn't realized that Junior was muscular in just the right way, or that Junior might have hair that spread over his body and did absolutely nothing to make him less attractive for it. He liked the way that a stray strand of hair flopped forward into Junior's face, and Junior's face as he laughed at a bad joke.

_ Goddamn _ , Roman thought to himself, he had it  _ bad  _ for Junior.

There was no way that he wasn't stashing all of this away in his mind for later, when the nights got a little too lonely or cold.

The steel door opened, and James came in, wearing a long-sleeved shirt that had belonged to Taiyang and seemed to fit the guy almost by some small miracle. Most conspicuously, Roman realized that at some point he'd ditched the glove on his right hand.

Presently, James was winding some light bandages between his robotic fingers in the hopes that it would be enough to possibly soften any blows that he did managed to deliver with that hand of his. Roman couldn't blame him for it. In fact, Roman was sure that there wasn't anyone there that would have blamed him for it. Roman was sure that James could actually just kill someone with that hand of his if he delivered a bad hit, and he didn’t want to see that theory tested. 

"You better be ready for this." James laughed cockily as he climbed up into the ring with Junior. Roman realized quickly that everyone seemed like they were staring at James, but after a moment people decided to just politely avert their gazes as James slipped his hand into the glove. "Because I can't promise you anything about this, Hei."

"Really now?" Junior laughed back, looking at James. "Because I'm pretty sure you and I  _ both  _ know how this ends, Jim."

"Yeah." James taunted back as he fell into a fighting stance of sorts. "With you on your back."

Junior smiled back and then shot a quick glance over in Roman's direction for just a moment. Roman couldn't help but to smile back at Junior, though he didn't know what that look was even for in the first place. Surely Junior had something planned that he hadn't wanted to say. There was no way that this was just a matter of banter.

Taiyang slid in a little bit closer to Roman, and tried not to say anything as the two men in the ring stepped in close to each other so that they could bump their gloves together, Junior's red against James' blue.

When the blond spoke up, the two men were about to separate away from each other. "Have you ever gotten to watch them fight?"

Roman swallowed, thinking back hard. He was sure that he'd seen Junior at some point, but never like this. He definitely hadn't seen James fight. "Nah," He said finally, keeping himself equally quiet. "I don't think I've ever seen them both in the ring."

"Yeah, I get that." Taiyang answered quietly. "You doing okay?"

Roman blinked and raised an eyebrow, a little bit unsure about why Taiyang was taking interest in him all of a sudden. "Yeah, I am." Roman said quietly. "But why are you asking me about it?"

"I just thought that you were sitting off on your own." Taiyang spoke quietly. "I was worried that you were getting..." He shrugged, and Roman couldn't help but smirk at the way that the guy's blond hair fell into his face with that motion. "I dunno, lonely. Bored?"

That certainly wasn't an answer that Roman had been expecting, he thought to himself as he watched James and Junior finally circling in close to each other. "I think I'm used to feeling lonely at this sort of thing these days." He mumbled. "Besides, I mostly just can't concentrate because..."

Roman stared up at the ring, and the two man in it as they began to trade punches, going blow for blow with each other and neither letting themselves get away from each other. Taiyang looked between Roman and the ring, once, and then twice, before finally focusing in on Roman.

He understood.

He  _ knew _ .

Of course, Roman wouldn't have been surprised if Taiyang had done the same sort of thing once upon a time watching Raven fight or practice. If anything, it was possible that there wasn't anyone that knew better than Taiyang.

"Yeah," Taiyang finally said. "I get that."

Roman paused and tried to think of anything that he could have said to Taiyang. With everything that was going on considered, he wanted to be able to reach out to his friend and offer him some sort of comfort about what was going on. In theory he was going to be able to provide some sort of encouragement about the tournament, but something nagged at the back of Roman’s mind and told him that he wouldn’t necessarily be able to do that much.

Not know much about boxing beyond how to set up equipment and throw a proper punch did that to him.

As a matter of fact, it placed Roman in a very awkward situation that he wasn't going to be able to rectify so cleanly.

But Taiyang was there, and he was a good friend. In fact, when Roman thought about it, when he'd first come to the gym it had probably been Taiyang that had been the most welcoming towards him out of everyone. Sure, Junior had been plenty supportive, but back then it had always been Roman being treated as a new coworker of sorts instead of being treated like a friend.

Taiyang had wanted to be friends with him, even on day one.

Anyone would have been lucky to have a guy like Taiyang around in their life, Roman realized. And that meant that he was going to have to work hard to make sure that he didn't accidentally end up driving the man away or leaving him behind once his contract with Xiong's was over.

"So, Tai." Roman spoke up finally, after what felt akin to an eternity or two. "How are you feeling about the whole tournament thing now that you've gotten to-" Roman didn't finish what he was saying and instead gestured towards Qrow with a slight nod.

Taiyang blinked and looked over in Qrow's direction for a moment before raising a hand so that he could push his floppy blond hair out of his face. "I'm... well, I'm not really sure." Taiyang answered finally. "It feels like there are a lot of things working against me, and it's a lot to try and get through in my head." He shrugged. "It's not like I don't want to go ahead and fight at the tournament, it's just that I don't know how well I'm going to be able to actually do. There’s going to be more guys fighting that I’ve never seen than ones that I have, you know?"

Roman didn't say anything, since he figured it was probably for the best if he just let Taiyang talk things through here anyways. After all, he was there asking this sort of question to be supportive, and he really did want that. It was just better if Taiyang got a chance to think things through without too much prodding.

"Well," He said quietly. "I think that you're going to be able to do well with it." Roman shrugged and looked up towards the ring where Junior and James were still mid-spar. "It looked like you were doing pretty well for yourself when you were sparring with him."

"I..." Taiyang smiled slightly, but it wasn't the most comfortable sort of smile that Roman had ever seen from someone. "Well, I think that I'm doing better,  but he's still a lot faster than me." Taiyang shrugged. "He's not even going to be the only one that I fight that day but it feels like it's the most important that I'm able to beat  _ him _ ."

Both of them stared forward at the ring, but they were both looking at a number of things that were there. There was James and Junior's fighting, and the Branwen twins as they hung off of the sides of the ring and cheered the two fighters along the entire time. Roman didn't know what Taiyang could be watching for, he thought to himself as he watched James corner Junior into a corner and deliver strike after strike before the two men separated.

He was sure that it had to be different.

"Do you think that beating Qrow will..." Roman stopped himself from asking the question halfway through because he wasn't sure whether or not he may be going a little too far.  Whether maybe it was a little too prodding. Deciding that it probably was, Roman just opted to drop his volume as far as he could and just ask. "Do you think it'll help you to impress his sister or something?"

Taiyang seemed to decide that it was a strange question, and just paused as he tried to think out a question. Roman didn't question it, since it was probably a little bit much for him to have asked the guy. It also put Taiyang in a bit of a weird spot, all things considered. And there was a certain pink tinge on the blonde’s cheeks that said much more than it should have. 

But what the others didn't know or hear couldn't hurt them, right?

"I dunno." Taiyang finally gave an answer, but he'd dropped his volume the same way that Roman had. "It probably has something to  do with that, but I haven't really thought about it much." He watched as James and Junior walked over to the corners of the rings, doing their best to relax and prepare for another round of battling. "She can beat him in about hundred ways, you know?"

"Yeah," Roman thought as he gave Raven a quick glance. If she wanted to, she probably could have gone ahead and beaten anyone at the gym with one arm behind her back if she wanted. That was just how Raven was, and it did leave Roman feeling a little bit afraid of her. It was nice to have someone like her though. "You love her, don't you?"

"I do." Tai said quietly. "and Summer." The blond shook his head at that and let out a quiet sigh. "I think it would mean a lot to me and Raven both if you could find a way to get Summer to come along for the tournament."

Roman nodded, because he was pretty sure that he knew that he was going to be able to get Summer to come along. She liked everyone at Xiong's as far as Roman knew, and if she could be there as some sort of moral support, that would be great. There was, of course, the strong chance that Summer would end up as a distraction to the others, but Roman was going to do his best.

"I can ask her for you." Roman said finally. "It shouldn't be any problem." He smiled over at Taiyang. "I'm sure that she'll be all over. Probably would even make you snacks for after."

"Yeah?" Taiyang laughed.

"Yeah." Roman smiled at the other man. "She makes great cookies, trust me."

That made Taiyang let out a sound that was akin to a snort, and Roman couldn’t help shaking his head and smiling over it. Summer’s cooking was always worth it, and he had the feeling that Taiyang hadn’t gotten a chance to sample it just yet.

“Cookies?”

“Oh yeah,” Roman answered, standing up and stretching slightly. “I’ll be sure to make sure that she makes some of her best for you…” He looked back over his shoulder to see that Junior and James were both in the process of sliding out of their gloves and laughing. Both seemed tired, and Roman was glad to see that. He looked straight ahead towards Taiyang again. "Chocolate chip is good?"

Taiyang looked up at the ring and stood up himself, since he was sure that this was the sign that it was his turn to jump back into the ring. "Chocolate chip is great." He said with a wide grin as he began to stretch nonchalantly. The blond paused, looked back over his shoulder at the ring and at Qrow, and then smiled gently at Roman. "Thank you for this.' He said quietly. "It... means a lot, is all."

"Hey," Roman smiled back at the other man. "It's really no problem, I assure you. She likes you quite a bit, Tai." Roman shrugged nonchalantly. "And I think that Summer will be more than happy to come along and cheer you and Raven on come the day of the tournament."

Taiyang nodded, not seeming the most confident, and then he was off towards the boxing ring so that he could once again jump to action while he had a chance to practice in a nice ring. Roman just decided to hang back, since he'd long decided that he wasn't going to get any sort of work done while he was there.

Carefully, Taiyang and James exchanged spots in the ring, and Raven and Junior shared a high five as the two of them existed the ring themselves. Roman just stood there by the benches and watched as as Junior began on his way over towards the bench where Roman had been sitting.

At the same time, Qrow also began his way over, and Roman figured that meant that it was likely that they were going to have to clear out of the gym sooner than later. It was true that they weren't really supposed to be there, and Roman didn't want to get everyone from Xiong's in too much trouble all because they stayed a little too late.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them and looking between Junior, who looked tired and flushed, and Qrow, who was moving in an entirely too relaxed manner for everything that was going on.

"Hey." Roman greeted the two men, and just relaxed a bit before re-taking his seat on the bench since he didn't have much of a reason to be up other than to stretch his leg. Junior took a seat beside him, and Roman slid in towards Junior and reached up gently to turn the other man's head when he saw that the right side of his face was looking a little red. "You okay?"

Junior smiled and picked up a hand to gently lower Roman's hand. "I'm fine." He said quietly. "James just tends to pack a punch is all."

"Yeah, he does." Qrow said, seating himself at Roman's side on his other side. Roman looked back over at the man over his shoulder and watched him. "Nice work up in the ring there."

Junior blinked and looked across Roman at Qrow. "We're both rusty." He said, relaxing slightly and prodding at the side of his face, even wincing. Roman considered heading out for just a moment so that he could get Junior some ice, just in case he ended up swelling up too badly.

Roman was sure that no matter what he wasn't going to end up finding Junior less attractive, all things considered. He'd gotten to see more than enough of the man's fighting and he'd probably enjoyed every second of it.

Qrow shrugged though. "You and Jimmy do pretty well for some people that are just rusty." He leaned back in his seat slightly. "What do you think, Red?" Qrow grinned over at Roman in that way that that seemed a little too playful. "They're not bad, huh?"

"Yeah." Roman swallowed, though he wasn't sure how much he actually knew about boxing. He could say that they looked good in a fight, but the reality of the matter was that all he could really identify about a boxing match was that people were throwing their punches correctly. "I uh... I liked watching."

Junior blinked, and somehow he actually managed to flush a little redder. Roman smiled at Junior, but when he looked back at Qrow it was the sort of look that was actively questioning what he was trying to do. He couldn't possibly think that Roman hadn't figured out what he was trying to do. "Well, uh..." Junior blinked. "I'm glad that James and I were able to entertain."

Roman couldn't help the small feeling that made him want to inch in a little bit closer to Junior, even though he knew fully well that was something that he shouldn't have been thinking about doing.

There was a certain sort of quiet that fell over them as they watched Taiyang and Raven spar in the same way that they had a hundred times before. They looked happy fighting up there, Roman thought to himself. "Raven's looking good." Qrow commented nonchalantly, leaning over towards Junior as much as he could manage. "Your training or James'?"

Junior blinked and watched as Taiyang got pinned into a corner with his hands up in front of his head so that he didn't end up with a fist in his face. "It's a mix." He said quietly. "I'm sure she's going to do well at the tournament."

"Well, I'm cheering for her." Qrow said, leaning back in his seat slightly. "For what it's worth. I think she's gonna do great." He laughed quietly and shrugged. "I mean, I don't have much of a choice in that, you know?"

Roman just blinked at the all too present realization that Qrow had gone all soft on them in ways that they had never really seen before. Normally the guy was so dedicated to making an ass of himself or playing mind games but when it came to his sister he was so different.

Deep down, Roman was sure that he even liked seeing that part of Qrow.

"Yeah," Junior answered, his eyes flicking over to James for a second. "I think I get that a little better than you know."

"Of course you do." Qrow shifted slightly. "Thanks for coming by tonight." He said, his voice dropping significantly in volume as he showed for the first time that he seemed to be really afraid to show everyone else what was actually going on in his head and what he was thinking. Maybe that was just Qrow's way of protecting himself, Roman thought to himself.

"It's no problem." Junior said, his voice equally quiet. "You've really done us all a pretty serious favor by getting us in here for a while."

Qrow laughed quietly. "Yeah, well..." He shrugged. "I was hoping that after this tournament I wasn't going to have to stick around here much anymore."

Roman swallowed, realizing that this was the part where it came around to the deal that he had made with Qrow for them to deal with. He'd said that he was going to try and help Qrow get into Xiong's as a regular member, and he had meant that. Mostly, Roman hadn't really known how he actually wanted to help Qrow out with those things.

After all, a lot of what Qrow got was going to depend on how he ended up performing at the tournament.

"Well..." Junior paused, staring up into the ring where Raven was stretching between rounds. "You know that that decision isn't entirely up to me."

Qrow shifted on the bench, sitting so that he now sat there with his legs folded up under him as he made himself comfortable and waited. "Well," He began. "You know that you could-"

Roman looked to Junior, who just interjected before Qrow could even finish. He had a feeling as to where what Qrow was saying was going to go, but nobody wanted to deal with it. Perhaps it was a suggestion that strayed a line of rudeness that was so extreme that nobody wanted to deal with what it meant.

"I'd rather not." Junior answered. "Because I'm not..." He swallowed visibly, and Roman couldn't help the desire that told him that it was a good idea for him to reach over to Junior and gently squeeze his hand, and so he did just that. "Well, I would rather not leave anyone feeling too awkward, you know?"

The thin man just let out a quiet sigh and nodded. "Yeah." He mumbled quietly. "I figured." There was a long silence that hung between them for a while before he spoke up. "You uh..." Qrow unfolded his legs from under him and stood up properly, stretching slightly on his toes before looking over at the door. "You guys should be thinking about getting out of here pretty soon."

Roman blinked and reached down into his pocket to find his phone and find out that it was almost one in the morning. In theory, they should have been out of the gym an hour ago but nobody had said anything.

"He's right." Roman confirmed, looking over to Junior. "It's pretty late."

Junior nodded slowly and stood up himself, pushing back his still sweat dampened hair out of his face for a moment before letting out a too heavy sigh.

"Right." He mumbled. "Of course."

"You'll mobilize the troops?"

Roman just watched as Qrow and Junior talked, and when the time came that the two broke apart, he just stood up and silently began to pack his bag back up so that he could leave as soon as he needed to.

This had been a good night for everyone, Roman decided then.

He was glad to have been able to be such a big part of making it possible.


	52. Two Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior sees sunrise in his eggs.

The morning after their night at Green's was a slow one that bordered on torture. 

In Junior’s case, he felt like he was going to drop at any second. His body was aching all over, he was pretty sure the right side of his face might have been in a state that strongly resembled hamburger meat, and mostly, he just wanted to sleep forever.    
  
But it was six in the morning, and he and James had wanted to open the gym early every day that week.    
  
It was a rare morning where Junior was the first one up, so he decided to start his morning off with a shower and put a pot of coffee on before he went for the shower, just because it meant that he was going to have something else to help wake him up once he was gone.    
  
Besides, if James was the one getting up later, the sooner that coffee was ready for that the better. Junior knew fully well that James before coffee wasn’t exactly the nicest person.   
  
So slowly Junior made his way over to the bathroom and stripped out of his pajamas before beginning a shower that mostly consisted of him standing with his head rested against the shower wall as the water ran over him and soothed his aching muscles and bones. The cool tile against his brow was much more pleasant than it should have been.   
  
He was just so exhausted, and there was no getting past that.    
  
Once the tournament was over, then he was going to be able to go back to having a normal sleep schedule, but right now things were desperate. They needed to be there all the time, and Junior needed to be able to handle whatever was thrown his way in the ring when he trained people or got them ready to fight. This was temporary, Junior knew. It just wasn’t fun.    
  
The entire time that he was there, surrounded by the hot water and engulfed in its steaming warmth, Junior was thinking about a thousand things, none of which were going to be going away easily. There was of course the money issue, but there was also the fact that Green's was so nice that he couldn't really help but feel a bit jealous towards the other gym for how good it was.    
  
He was sure that his father's dream was to have a gym that was like Green's before he died. Now that he'd seen the other deal firsthand as a business owner, it just put a fire in him to be able to get that sort of thing and relish in it.    
  
Junior was sure that he could have a gym that nice if he wanted it.    
  
All that had to happen was that every single thing from then on out had to go well.   


That absolutely put no pressure on Junior at all. It definitely didn't leave him feeling a little bit like he was drowning, or like any missed step was going to end up making them fall apart. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he just did his best to calm himself down before any anxiety could cling onto him too badly.   
  
Junior did his best to distract himself away from those thoughts as he washed himself off before finally climbing out of the shower, drying off, and just dressing himself for the day that was ahead of them. He stared at himself in the mirror and was mostly glad to see that his face that didn't look as bad as he had initially thought. He was glad for it, but it wasn't going to stop him that much.   
  
He took a too-deep breath and then went to the bathroom door before stepping out and making his way over to the kitchen where there was already coffee ready. Junior poured himself a mug and opened the small cabinet where James liked to keep his medication, pulling out the small bottle that he knew contained James' painkillers and just set it down on the small table in the dining room so that James could take his medication as soon as he got up that morning.    
  
After that, Junior just dedicated himself to getting something together that he could eat that morning.    
  
He was halfway through frying an egg when he heard the sound of the door to James' bedroom opening, which came quickly followed by the sounds of quiet taps with every step. Junior figured that James' body was probably punishing him for the night before, which was something that he couldn't really avoid.   


Junior was just dedicated to making it a little bit easier, if he could.

  
Junior turned slightly to look at James, and then smiled. "Coffee's ready."  
  
"Thanks." James answered with a craggy sort of voice as he stiffly lowered himself down into the chair at the dining room table that he always took. Junior didn't answer him, just poured James a mug of coffee to help him wash his medications down, and slid the coffee over to Junior from across the table before returning to the stove where his breakfast was still cooking.   
  
When James finished with his first order of business for that morning, he just leaned back in his seat slightly and peered across the table and into the kitchen to watch Junior. "Sleep okay?" James asked, his voice quiet.  
  
"I did." Junior answered. "You know, when we got home, I was just so tired that there was no way that I wasn't going to be able to sleep."  
  
"Yeah," James said, smiling softly. "I understand that." He leaned back into his seat slightly. "Kind of put things into perspective last night, didn't it?"  
  
Junior paused, just as he was about to move his breakfast onto a plate so that he could actually eat that morning. "Uh, yeah." He answered, though he wasn't sure exactly _how many_ things had really come into perspective the night before, and how much of it was work related.  
  
He'd found himself realizing some of his feelings, but that was something that he didn't necessarily talk to anyone about other than Roman. When he'd sparred with James, Junior had found himself feeling acutely aware of the fact that Roman was watching him the entire time, and having the guy there had been enough to leave him feeling like he wasn't performing quite well enough.  
  
Junior seated himself across from James finally with his breakfast and just watched as James nursed his coffee and scrolled through something on his phone. It was quiet, and then James spoke up again. "I think Tai's ready."  
  
Those words alone almost felt like they were enough to shatter the world that they both lived in.  
  
They meant a lot.   
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes." James repeated. "I..." He paused for a moment, furrowing his brow and setting his mug of coffee face-down in front of him. "I got talking to Qrow, and he actually seemed like he might actually be worried about the tournament himself."  
  
"Oh." Junior mumbled quietly. He thought back to the night before and what he'd seen when Qrow and Taiyang had been fighting and how things had gone at the time. The truth was, when he'd watched Taiyang and Qrow spar, he'd been so wrapped up in watching what Qrow was doing that he might have even forgotten to watch Taiyang at the the time.   
  
In which case, Junior might have failed the man a little bit.   
  
James picked his head up and looked across at Junior with a look on his face that read as bing purely of confusion. "Junior?"  
  
"I uh...' Junior swallowed. "I was mostly watching Qrow so that we could figure out how to get around him."   
  
"Ah." James answered, leaning back in his seat. "Well, Qrow didn't seem to be as brimming with confidence over this whole thing as before." A slight shrug. "I think that sparring with Taiyang last night might have actually gotten into his head on some level."   
  
"You think something's gotten into his head?"  
  
James didn't answer immediately, like there was something else that he was desperately afraid to say.   
  
Junior knew that he could have fairly easily figured out what that thing was that James was so afraid to address. It was that there was something that had been said before everyone had come into the gym between him and Qrow, it was that James and Qrow had found some time off on the side when Junior had been dealing with other things.   
  
It was all too obvious that if anyone had gotten into Qrow's head, it wasn't Taiyang, or Raven, or Junior.   
  
"I think Taiyang has." James said, sounding almost confident about things. "Up until last night, Qrow hadn't seen how Taiyang performs regularly now." A pause. "For a while, he was getting by on outdated information. Now that he's seen Taiyang in the ring firsthand..." James shrugged slightly and set down his mug of coffee. "It's changed things. He has perspective now."  
  
Junior supposed that made sense, but he couldn't help the overwhelming feeling that there were things that James was refusing to mention or acknowledge. Things that James never would deal with properly.   
  
But Junior knew that he had to do or say something. He couldn't just let this slide so easily, when there was a number of things that they needed to deal with. At the end of the day, Junior was fairly certain that he knew what needed to be done at that point besides them continuing their training of Team Xiong.   
  
"So you're saying that Taiyang is ready?"  
  
"I believe so." James finally answered, his voice entirely too calm and his expression far too schooled for Junior's liking. "I think that they all are." He paused. "You've really done something great, Junior, you know that?"   
  
"What?"  
  
"The gym." James mumbled quietly, his eyes mostly downcast as he just swirled his mug of coffee in his hand. "I think that... your, our-" James paused, his jaw going a little tight before James finally looked up at Junior and they made eye contact. When that happened, Junior realized that this was hard for James. there was something akin to sadness swimming in James' eyes, and possibly even love or affection. Something so rare that Junior was sure he would never be used to seeing it. "I think dad would be proud." James finally managed.  
  
But those words somehow meant everything to Junior, despite it all. It meant something that he hadn't really considered in the past. The last few months had been impossibly difficult for himself and James both, but in different ways. There were a lot of things that neither of them had really talked about that in depth.   
  
He missed his brother.   
  
He missed feeling like they were family.   
  
"James?"  
  
"Look, he..." James swallowed. "He would be proud of you, is all." A shrug. "He would want to be there for it."  
  
Junior stared down at his eggs and let himself stare down into them to see how they were. The yolk reminded him of a sunrise on a day that had been refusing to come for a long time. Like a sun standing in a sky after a long night.   
  
In that moment, Junior felt like he truly had his brother back.   
  
"He..." Junior swallowed hard and looked up at James now. "He would have been proud of you too."   
  
James shook his head, his eyes dropping back down to the mug of coffee in front him. "It's mostly been your work fixing things."  
  
"You've done just as much." Junior replied, setting his fork down and leaning back in his seat finally. "He'd be proud of you for it." Junior shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Hell, he'd probably be even prouder when it comes to you because of how far you've come." He picked his head up and watched James for a moment, and the way that his expressions changed so slightly.   
  
A thousand feelings were written on his brother's face that had never been properly addressed. "Thank you, Junior." James finally said, his voice so quiet that it was almost broken. "I uh..." James shrugged, mimicking Junior. "It means a lot."  
  
Junior finally gave in and cut into the yolk of his egg, and found himself watching as that yellow bled further and further out onto the rest of his plate. "I'm going to invite mom for the tournament."  
  
"That's good." James whispered, his voice sounding like it was going to crack. "I think she'd like that a lot."   
  
"Yeah, me too." Junior smiled softly, thinking back to a happier time. "I think it might remind her of before, going to a tournament with her family to see whether Xiong's Fitness can be represented right." His heart ached when he thought of what came next though. The truth was that no matter what, it was going to feel like something was missing.   
  
And that was because it was.   
  
"Even if Dad's not there, I think this is the most that we can do to be there for this. Everyone on Team Xiong knows what this means for the gym but..."  
  
"But they don't know what it means for us." James finished for Junior, and it was exactly what Junior had needed to hear. It was exactly what he'd meant to say. "I think that deep down they all know about it, and they want to be here to help."   
  
"Right." Junior responded finally. "I think you're right." He shook his head and just watched as James brought himself up to his feet, his coffee finished off and leaning against his cane. All at once, he reminded himself that no matter what, things had changed a lot and there wasn't any ignoring that.   
  
He was lucky to have his brother there now, broken and beaten down as James was. He was lucky to have everything that he had, despite everything. He was lucky that Roman had come into his life, and that everyone was doing their best to be supportive and help them out. He was lucky that Qrow had come back when he had, and that his friends were all growing.   
  
He was so lucky, and it felt like he'd been taking it for granted for a long time.   
  
"Right." Junior finally said again. "We should get ready for work."  
  
"Yeah," James answered, smiling back softly at him in that way that Junior had missed. "We should."  
  
And that was all that either of them said to each other for a long time. It was all that either of them wanted to say to the other, and so when the two of them separated, it came with some level of comfort that felt like it had been lost for a long time.   
  
Junior, though, he spent the rest of the morning getting himself ready and thinking hard on everything that had happened in his life, and how things were going now. He was going to have to make a point to thank everyone around him if he was going to feel content with things.   
  
After all, in a way, everyone over at Xiong's had become family, in their own ways. He just needed to make sure that they all knew that.

James was a pretty good place to start, all things considered. 


	53. On The Menu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven decides she wants to help.

Roman pulled into the Xiong’s parking lot, feeling fully prepared to commandeer their office for the day. He was pretty sure that everything important that needed to be done that day could be done from there anyways, so Roman didn’t feel bad about it. If he needed to make some phone calls, that was something that he could do towards the end of the day before the office that he and Summer shared normally got locked up for the day.

It was always surprising to pull into the parking lot to find that it was almost completely full, but that morning it was. The front door to the gym was wide open and welcoming, and from inside, he could hear the sound of James' voice bellowing out.

For a moment, Roman found himself wondering what could be going on inside, since he was sure that if there had been a meeting that needed to be held, it would have been done the day before. Also that he would have heard about it from either James or Junior, whichever bothered to contact him first. But it  _ was  _ also possible that they were doing meetings every day as they became necessary.

He paused just outside the door, since he was sure that he would see swift reprimand for causing a distraction if he came in and ended up drawing attention away from whatever it was that James was lecturing them all on that day.

But he couldn't wait there outside the door all day, and so when Roman went inside to see that there had been a meeting of sorts set up, with some standing outside of the ring, while James and Junior stood there with a box of something sitting between the two of them.

Junior seemed to be leaning back comfortably, while James talked about some sort of etiquette or rule for them to all be aware of. Roman took a seat behind where Taiyang was sitting and Junior seemed to notice him.

Roman couldn't help but smile when Junior halfway raised a hand away from his arm to give a half-wave in his direction. James noticed him too and gave Roman just a nod to acknowledge that he was there before continuing on with his lecture.

It was a couple of moments before James finished, and then they all broke off. With the tournament only a few days away, it meant that they had a lot of things to worry about and get ready for, and James and Junior were doing their absolute best to do that for their fighters.

As it turned out, it was mail day and the gear that Roman had helped along in ordering for the gym had arrived, and so part of the lecture of the day was regarding the new equipment that they had and how to use it and treat it well.

That was one less thing to worry about, Roman thought to himself.

Junior climbed down out of the ring, since he didn't have any need to be up there now that the lecture was over with. When Roman gave him a quick look up and down, he quickly realized that it looked like the man hadn't gotten too beaten up the night before. His face was less swollen than it could have ended up being, and so Roman was glad to be able to see that.

"Hey." Roman greeted Junior quietly. "Seems like things are going well down here today."

"Yeah." Junior said, smiling widely. "We’re mostly all just trying to get ready for the tournament, you know?” The broad man gave a slight shrug. “It’s all last minute bookkeeping at this point.” His eyes strayed over to James, and Roman couldn’t help but to follow Junior’s gaze. “It’s a little bit stressful but…”

“But you seem to be doing well enough.” Roman interjected with a smile. “I mean, for someone that’s got all of that stress on your shoulders.”

Junior shook his head. “It was an interesting morning, we’ll put it that way.” The words seemed to hang on the edge of Junior’s tongue, almost like he was struggling to get them out. It was enough to leave Roman feeling slightly concerned, but he decided against commenting on it.

After all, if there was something wrong, he wouldn’t have wanted anyone calling him out on it, and he seriously doubted that Junior would end up wanting that to happen either. He swallowed hard and reached out, and gently placed his hand on Junior's shoulder. "I'm sure that things are fine."

"They are." Junior answered, with his eyes all soft and gentle. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried." Roman answered with a gentle squeeze of Junior's shoulder before he finally pulled away from the other man. "I figured I should spend the day here again in case you need me to take care of something important while I'm here."

Junior blinked and turned his head to look over towards the office. His mouth opened for a bit like he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do or say, but finally he closed his mouth again and nodded. "Thank you," Junior finally spoke, his voice quiet. "I'm sure that the desk will be open for most of the day."

Roman raised an eyebrow, since that was something that he didn't expect, but he wasn't too worried about it. "Alright then," Roman took a step away and adjusted the way that his bag rested on his shoulder before stepping away from Junior. He had to stop himself from asking a question that was hanging in the back of his mind and refusing to let him go.

"Hey, uh, Junior?"

"Yeah, Ro?"

After a deep breath Roman spoke. "Would you want to.." He shrugged. "Do you want to go on a date after..." He paused, since he didn't want to accidentally put Junior under any more stress by accident. The guy didn't need to be reminded of how things could possibly go wrong at any moment. "Well, after this is all over?"

Junior blinked and smiled before nodding. "Yeah." He answered, seeming almost confident in a way that Roman wasn't used to. "I would like that a lot."

"Alright." Roman smiled back. "I'll be looking forward to it."

It wasn't the most comfort that he'd ever gotten out of a situation, but Roman was glad for it nonetheless. At the very least, he had managed to set up a goal for himself and Junior that would come up after everything was over and done with. They would both have something to look forward to, regardless of outcome.

Of course, if things went poorly the possibility existed that Junior wasn't going to be very interested in going on dates, but that was something that Roman had already accepted. If things went poorly, he was fully prepared to make sure that he was going to be able to offer the man some sort of comfort and help him relax over things.

But Roman knew fully well that he couldn't just stand around and linger as he was doing now. The best thing would be for him to get his things together and just go and  _ work _ , and try to find a way to keep everything as well taken care of as possible. He was fairly certain that he was going to be able to reach into some of his accounts to get some money together so that he could keep everyone taken care of on game day.

After all, the crew from Xiong's was probably going to want to have food that day, and it was probably for the best if they  _ weren't  _ eating nothing but pizza that day. That wasn't even to mention that it was probably for the best if someone brought along water and sports drinks that could keep everyone fueled. All things that Roman could trust himself to be able to take care of. Besides, it wasn’t like making sure people had food was the most difficult job. 

If anything, it was probably going to end up being the easiest thing possible that he could do when the tournament finally came around. 

Roman made his way into the office and almost immediately sat down at the desk and grabbed up a sheet of paper as he began to just write out a shopping list for the day of the tournament, which was so close that he could almost taste it. He wrote down everything that he could possibly think of, and even got onto a spree of internet searches to make sure that he wasn't missing anything.

His concentration was broken by the sound of the office door open, and Roman's head snapped up a little too quickly to see who had come in. What he saw was Raven, standing there with a sneer of sorts on her face and a half-confused expression as she just watched him.

"Can I help you?" She deadpanned, her eyes narrowing as she let the door swing shut behind her.

"I don't know." Roman said, leaning back in his seat and setting his pen down for the time that he was going to have company. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Nah." Raven asked, deciding to flop down into one of the chairs and lean back into it as she made herself a little more than at home. "Wanted a break." She stared at him out of the corner of her eyes, and that alone was enough to make Roman almost feel like he wanted to shrink back into nothingness.

"Right." Roman swallowed hard and leaned back into his seat.

"Grab me some water." Raven said, almost like a command. Roman paused, realizing that this was probably his best to make his way back onto Raven's good side with all things considered, and so he opened the small mini-fridge at his side and found an unopened bottle of water which he was quick to offer Raven.

She took it without a word and leaned back in her seat, pressing the bottle to the back of her neck and letting her eyes slip shut. "You know," She started. "We don't really need you here at the gym every day."

"Well," Roman started, swallowing hard and looking back down at his list. "You're right, but right now I think it's just for the best that I stick around and try to help out with things." He paused and slid the list over in Raven's direction. "I was actually trying to figure out how I could help you guys more well..." Roman shrugged. "We'll say directly, at the tournament."

Raven's eyes flicked between him and the paper, and after a short moment she reached out and picked it up, flipping it over quickly before beginning to read it over. She paused and just stared at Raven over the edge of the slip of paper. "This is just a list of food." Raven deadpanned, staring him down with burning red eyes.

"Yeah." Roman answered, leaning back in his seat. "I figured I wouldn't be much use as far as training and keeping you guys in one piece goes but..." He shrugged. "I used to do weddings, so I know  _ plenty  _ about catering an event." Roman swallowed hard, realizing that he hadn't exactly said something that was going to make him come off very well for the current situation. "It's not exactly the same, but the same principles apply."

Raven shook her head and dropped the list back down onto the paper before relaxing back into her seat again. "Well," She smirked. "Then you might need to learn some things if you're going to be doing that properly, Roman."

All at once all of the color drained out of Roman's face and he was left picking the list back up and checking over it almost obsessively as he tried to figure out what was wrong with it. He was just thinking about the basic things that they were going to end up needing for the day of the tournament, so what could be-

"For instance," Raven mumbled, feigning as though she was checking her nails. "You wouldn't know this, but Tai has a traditional fight day meal of chicken and rice before he goes into the ring. He says it’s good luck."

The realization that Raven was actually  _ helping _ him was a more than welcome surprise which left Roman snatching up his pen so that he could write down whatever she ended up saying so that he didn't end up missing anything.

"Chicken and rice?" Roman asked.

"Yeah." Raven replied. "Baked, some seasoning."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Gatorade." Raven mumbled, sounding entirely bored with the situation. "The blue kind."

Roman nodded, though he had to leave a question mark next to that statement since he was pretty sure that 'blue' wasn't a flavor of  _ anything _ , but when it came to processed food, he could never be sure.

"Got it." Roman paused. "Is there anything that you would want?"

The room seemed to go completely silent over that question, and Roman was left wondering whether or not Raven had ever been asked what kind of think she liked to have for the day of an event.

He watched her eyes, the way that they went all downcast as she began to draw circles on her leg, almost like she was trying to distract herself away from it.

Finally Raven spoke, her voice too quiet and a little too far away for his liking.

"Yeah," She said finally. "Qrow and I always had caesar salads before this sort of thing, ever since we were kids." A shrug. "I know it's probably not the best thing, but..."

"I can do that." Roman spoke up, smiling at her. "If you want I can even get two so you can get him what he needs."

Raven blinked twice and just watched Roman in a way that almost felt predatory but mostly felt curious and confused. "You mean that?"

"Yeah." Roman finally said. "I mean it."

Raven smiled softly. "In that case, if you can-"

"I'll be able to."

"Two."

"It's on my list."

There was that silence again, more comfortable this time. Raven spoke up again finally. "From what I know, Junior and James always do breakfast before these things. I don’t know what they do for it though."

"Okay." Roman replied. "I don't think I can help with that."

"Yeah, I know." Raven shrugged and smirked a little too cockily. "Just figured I'd mention it."

Roman stared across at Raven, and he almost wondered whether or not she was challenging him over things in a way. Would she answer questions if he asked her more about what sorts of things he should get to cater to the very individual needs of each person at the gym?

Based on everything that had happened thus far, he could guess that she would, but he could never be sure enough.

Finally, he thought of something. "What kinds of things do you like to eat after a fight?" He blinked and looked up into Raven's eyes. "Team dinner doesn't sound so bad after, does it?"

Raven blinked and shrugged slightly. Almost like she herself didn't have much of an answer to his question, and Roman couldn't really blame her too much for that. With all things considered, there was quite a bit on the line for them all to worry about. Roman knew his place now- he was there to make sure that everyone felt well looked after and cared for.

"Pizza might be fine." She said finally. "But I think that's the sort of thing that we have a team meeting for after the tournament instead of planning for now."

Those words caught Roman very distinctly off guard. He never would have expected that Raven would ever use a 'we' in regards to him, but there he was. There was a certain sort of tacit agreement that the two of them could work together, and that was something that Roman was going to readily treasure for as long as he could.

If there was any sign that he'd made it in with everyone at Xiong's, he figured that was it. He was glad for it.

"Right." Roman finally said, leaning back in his seat once he finished taking down a note. "I'll keep that in mind." He paused, realizing that there were things that he wanted to be able to go ahead and say to Raven but he didn't necessarily have the words for them. There were a lot of things that needed to be patched up between them, and there was probably no better time to start dealing with that than right then, while they sat in Junior and James' office alone with nobody else to bother them.

In a way, it was the least intimidated that he'd ever felt when it came to Raven.

She seemed to realize that he had something on his mind though, and so she stared him down with fire in her eyes and words that she didn't want to say. It almost made Roman want to shrink away, but he didn't let himself do that.

He just decided to speak up. "So Raven," He began, trying to put on all of the confidence that he could manage. "You know, I've been thinking that I really need to apologize to you about some things."

"You?" Raven looked him up and down and grimaced slightly. She knew what this was about, Roman didn't have so much as a doubt in his mind about that face. "What is it?"

"It's about the day at your and Tai's apartment." Roman began as calmly as he could manage. "I realize that I might have accidentally upset you by bringing up the things that-"

"It's fine." Raven cut Roman off before he could get even close to finishing what he was saying. She flicked some of her thick black hair over her shoulder and set the bottle of water that she'd been holding against her neck onto the desk between the two of them. "You needed context, I got worked up." She shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Is it?"

"Yeah." Raven answered, though she sounded bitter about it. "You didn't know what... Well, my brother was doing."

"Yeah," Roman mumbled, almost feeling sad when he thought back to that day and how poorly everything had ended up going across the board. "I didn't." A long pause settled before he managed to say something again. "He's pretty great you know?"

"Yeah." Raven managed, voice barely peeking above a whisper. "He is. Always has been." There was a vulnerability about it that almost was enough to leave Roman feeling impossibly uneasy about things. Like all of the confidence in Raven's body had just been sucked out of her all at once.

That couldn’t be good. Roman knew that it wasn’t good, it was the sign that there was something in this woman that was almost broken. Something that she never showed anyone, something vulnerable and rare that he was being given the privilege to witness.

He had to do something to try and comfort Raven, that was all that Roman knew. He couldn’t leave her like this. Even if she got angry at him for it, he couldn’t let this lie.

"You know," Roman spoke up again, hoping that the words that he thought of were going to enough to act as a balm to Raven at the very least. He didn't expect the perfect reaction, or that she was going to accept him and love him for it, but the least that Roman could do was just try. "You're pretty great too."

"You're just-"

"I'm not just saying that, Raven." Roman cut her off, deciding to flip the tables on her and see how far that was going to be able to get him in the long run of things. "You're actually..." He smiled, trying to find the words that he really wanted to say. "You're really scary, but in a pretty great way. You don't... show it much, but I think you really love the people that are around you."

Raven watched him, and Roman couldn't help but think that she looked like she was a cat that was getting ready to pounce on him, or like she was at the very least doing her best to measure up a target before she went ahead and acted on something to see what she would be able to get out of himg. Maybe that was just how she was- she wasn't going to do anything unless it seemed like she was going to be able to get something out of someone else that would ultimately benefit her. Roman couldn't blame her for that, he couldn't really pretend as though he hadn't acted in similar ways in the past.

After all, when worst came to worst, there was nothing wrong with playing on someone's insecurities and weaknesses to get what he wanted. That was part of what being in the business that he was in had done to him- it had almost entirely removed the feeling that there were some things that simply belonged off limits as topics and targets.

Hell, looking back, he could think of times when he'd done that to people and had probably ended up hurting them in the process because he didn't have that much context about what was going on in their lives or who they were. He knew for a fact that James had become a target once or twice, if only because the man wouldn't waver and give him a straight answer regarding Xiong's from time to time.

Roman knew that he should probably apologize for that sometime, if he got the chance to.

Whether he was going to get that chance or not was another question for another time. He sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to do it before the tournament, considering how it looked like everything was going to go. Once that got into gear, there wasn’t going to be room for proper distractions, and so he was sure he was going to have to wait.

That was fine.

It had been a day that could only be described as beyond productive, and Roman was more than glad to have had it. He knew that out in the main room of the gym, people were going through the last stages of their training and preparing themselves for whatever was going to come next. But here, in this office, that was where he would train.


	54. At The Wire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to check the numbers one last time.

“So it’s tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Junior and James sat across from each other at their tiny dining room table, neither wanting to do or say anything that would end up making the other so uncomfortable or anxious that it would be next to impossible for them to move forward. They were going over the last little bit of bookkeeping that they could do alone, and then they were going to be heading up to Green’s first thing in the morning.

The two of them didn’t have all that much time, all things considered. That didn’t matter so much though, Junior knew. He and James could get it done. 

"How are the finances looking?" Junior asked, leaning back in his seat and watching James silently as he worked on whatever it was that he was looking at. Whatever it was, it seemed important, judging by the way that James was leaned forward over a small pile of paperwork, even wearing the pair of reading glasses that he tended to keep hidden away.

James sighed heavily and leaned back in his own seat, sitting up properly and relaxing just slightly into his seat. "They're better than they were last time." James began, keeping his voice low in volume for some reason that Junior didn't quite understand. He figured that it might have been a force of habit, something that James had picked up on when he was young.

Always talk about troubling matters in a hushed voice.

"What does that mean?" Junior asked, watching James the entire time. He figured that the gym was getting more and more business as time went on, and that they were doing pretty well because of all of that. James taking on classes also had to help, and if anything, that was a testament to the fact that Roman's work had done what they'd needed it to.

Not only that, but being able to have lower bills also had to play into things.

"What it means is that it's the first time in..." James paused, his voice trailing off for just a moment before he spoke up again. "Well, in a while that we've been in the black across the board."

Junior felt his heart jump in his chest. He wanted to reach down into his pocket and find his phone so that he could call Roman and let him know that he'd helped them so much, he wanted to show his joy, he wanted to tell everyone that they were doing so well and that things were actually going well. The stakes had always seemed so high, and now that this was happening, he almost felt  _ relieved. _

But he didn't want to get his hopes up too much. It was too easy to think that this was a matter of just being one good month for them. It was entirely possible that the next month was going to have them back in the red again, and so they couldn't get too hopeful. He'd need to talk to Roman about it sometime, but right now, it was between him and James.

"We are?"Junior asked, swallowing hard and reaching out to take the sheet of paper that James was focusing on from his brother. It was passed across easily enough, and Junior looked it over. It looked like all of his work was correct, by the looks of things.

Of course it was, it was James. The guy had a way with numbers.

"Yeah," James answered with a slight shrug. "I wouldn't count on it meaning much for next month, but for this month we're doing well." He paused for a moment as he tried to figure out what else to say, and Junior found himself waiting for whatever it was that James wanted to bring to the table for them to talk about. "As long as there are no emergencies or incidents that we need to spend extra money on, we're fine."

That meant that there was something that the two of them seriously needed to talk about sometime. That meant that what was going on with regards to keeping Roman on the staff at Xiong's. If they kept him around, then it meant that Roman was going to have a consistent position, but after a while Junior wasn't sure what there was going to be left for Roman do to.

He closed his eyes.

"Do you think we still need Roman?" Junior finally went ahead and raised the questions, in the hopes that it was going to be enough to help the two along while they were still there and talking about work.

James was quiet, thinking over whether or not there was an answer to Junior's question. It didn't leave Junior feeling that great about things, but it was the least that they needed to do and talk about. His brother let his eyes travel away from Junior, which was the obvious sign that they were going to really have to talk it over sometime.

FInally, his brother let out an impossibly heavy sigh and spoke up. "Yes, but no." He finally said, leaning back in his seat. "With this work, I've set aside some of the money that we're going to end up owing him for work." He paused. "If we keep Roman around, what do you think that he'll even be doing for the gym?"

Junior paused. They had brought Roman in to help them advertise the gym and while the guy had gone ahead and done more than that for them, in theory, Roman's work was done. It left him feeling almost sad, but considering the things that he and Roman had talked about so many times in regards to their relationship, maybe letting him go after this tournament was the best thing.

"I don't know." Junior finally admitted sadly. "Maybe we should keep his number so that we can call him any time that we need him around to help?"

James let out a sigh. "Are you okay with doing that?" He asked, his voice going softer than Junior was used to hearing. "Because-"

"Yeah," He swallowed hard. "I know. I think it might be the best thing."

James nodded slowly and wrote that down. Junior didn't know which one of them was going to end up needing to talk to Roman about everything. He figured that it was probably for the best that he did it but... He picked his head up and watched James, and he knew that it was probably just a little too closely. Finally, Junior spoke again "When we do that can you…”

His brother leaned back in his seat and sipped from a mug of coffee that had been sitting beside him for a long while. James grimaced slightly and almost seemed to stare off into space as he tried to force himself to relax a little bit before speaking up again. "You're asking me to fire him."

"That's.... one way to put it, yeah." Junior admitted, almost mirroring James' grimace. "It'd just be a little bit less awkward, I think."

"Is it?"

"Yeah," Junior almost felt a pang of guilt over it, but this was something that inevitably was going to have to happen sometime or another. He couldn't pretend like letting Roman go wasn't going to be inevitable, or that this was something that they could avoid. He closed his eyes and just let out a groan of sorts. "I'm sorry, James."

James paused, shifting almost uncomfortably in his seat as he thought over what he wanted to say to Junior before finally speaking up. "I'll do it, Junior." He said quietly. "But don't think that you don't owe me for this."

A silence settled over them. Junior had figured that he was going to end up needing to owe James something for this sometime, but he didn't know what it was going to end up being that James needed him for. It was probably going to be a matter of helping him out on a bad day, or maybe with Qrow. This was a bargain that needed to be made for them to be able to get things done.

That was fine.

That was something that needed to happen anyways, by the looks of things.

"Thank you, James." Junior finally said, his voice dropping in volume as he reached across to pat James' left hand, which only earned a glare from James as a response. He smiled slightly and relaxed slightly. "I'll make it up to you, promise."

"So when do we do it?"

Junior looked across the table at James and noticed the way that his eyes had narrowed and there was an expression on his brother's face that read as being purely  _ unamused. _ When Junior thought about it, he figured that he had inadvertently said something that he shouldn't have.

This wasn't a matter of  _ 'we.' _

This was something that he had put onto James, and James alone.

We was definitely the wrong word to use here.

"I'm going to get it after the tournament." James grumbled, keeping his voice low and leaning back in his seat slightly. "But not before, because nobody needs the extra distraction right now." He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a quiet sigh.

"Alright." Junior said finally, with his voice quiet. He swallowed and found himself fidgeting a little bit more than he should have, though he knew that there wasn't really anything wrong that needed to be addressed. "Thank you for this, James."

James stared across the table at him and there was a slight twitch of his lips, like there was something that he wanted to do. "You shouldn't be thanking me too much for this," James replied and stood up and stretched slightly. "I'm going to do my best to make sure that this goes over well, and once it's done, I'm going to make sure that you hear about how it went."

"I really do owe you-"

"When I know what I need you to do, I'm going to let you know." James answered quietly. "This is a matter of time."

Junior nodded and stretched slightly, thinking hard on whether or not there was something that he was going to need the next day to make sure that things are fine. Tomorrow, he was going to need to do plenty of things, but he didn't know what it was going to end up being that he needed.

Food? No, he'd heard through the grapevine that Roman was going to be getting something for everyone to eat the next day. There was going to be a need for them to get some things together and get the things that they needed for the day ahead.

Gear was already in his and James' car and ready so that they could go ahead and get things done. Roman was taking care of food, and they were probably going to have to pick some things up on the way to the gym come morning.

So after that, what was there that they were going to need to do?

He looked over at James, and waited, wondering whether or not he wanted to go ahead and ask James whether or not there was anything that he was going to need to do that he wasn’t thinking of. Did they have a supply of aspirin and painkillers for the day ahead?

He watched James out of the corner of his eye, weighing whether or not he wanted to ask the question. Would it be too unwelcome if he went ahead and asked about it?

He didn’t know.

“James?” He asked finally, keeping his voice low in volume. “Is there anything that you want me to get for tomorrow?”

Junior watched his brother- watched his frame for any sign that something was wrong or like he was trying to figure out whether or not James was trying to hide something from him. Whether or not there was pain or something there.

James looked back over at Junior over his shoulder, looking for something that was going to be able to be enough to distract Junior away from what was going on. Junior watched his eyes, and saw nothing there, nothing that he could go after to be able to make things work out.

“Yeah,” James murmured quietly. “It’s… going to be a long day. We should make sure that we have a lot of aspirin, just in case.”

“Anything else?”

“Perhaps bandages.” James mumbled as quietly as he could manage. He didn’t know whether or not they were going to end up getting into trouble, but Junior figured that it was probably going to be something that they needed to pay attention to.

But wouldn’t there be a medical table or something at the tournament? Maybe James was just trying to distract him away from something. Junior wasn’t sure about that, since there was something else.

Junior took a deep breath, since he was sure that questioning this probably wasn’t going to get him all that far in the long run. The best thing that he could do was just be there for his brother, and be supportive towards his brother, and to everyone else that worked for Xiong’s. So Junior forced on a smile, and watched his older brother over his shoulder.

“I’ll be sure to do what I can, okay Jim?”

“I’m not worried about it.” James finally replied, his voice. “Having supplies is low on my list of things to worry about because we are going to have someone there tomorrow that doesn’t know much about the actual boxing.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sure Roman won’t mind running quick errands if an emergency comes up tomorrow.”

That was enough to make Junior feel a lot better about what was coming ahead of them. James was right, Roman  _ was _ going to be willing to help them with anything that came up, that was just the sort of guy that he was. That was probably the thing about Roman that Junior loved about him the most. Roman legitimately cared about everyone around him, and never seemed to waver in that fact.

"You're right." He said quietly, after a  little while. "James, we should both get some sleep for tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." James answered, though he swallowed hard before saying the words. "Neither of us can be off our game tomorrow, regardless of whether or not we're going to be in the ring." There was a long pause, like there might have been something else that James wanted to say, but he said nothing.

Instead, James just kept those blue eyes of his on Junior with a softness that Junior wasn't used to. A softness that spoke to something else, and was enough to make it feel like there was a certain sort of warmth in his chest that he had never quite gotten used to feeling when it came to James.

"Jim?"

"Good night, Junior." James said, getting up and pushing the chair that he had been using back in towards the table so that it was out of the way. He just finished what he had for a drink on the table and calmly walked it over to the kitchen so that he could wash the mug before silently slipping off to his bedroom and closing the door behind him.

Just like that, Junior was alone again.

He looked at the table that the two of them had been at and sighed heavily before clearing off the things that he'd brought to it that didn't need to be there anymore before mimicking what James had done and going off to his own bedroom in the hopes that he was going to be able to find some sort of comfort there.

The next hour turned into a blur. Junior tried to ignore the fact that he could hear James talking to someone on the phone, just loudly enough that he could be heard. He tried to ignore the fact that there was a nervousness that had built up in his chest that didn't seem like it was ever going to be able to leave him. He tried to ignore the fact that he himself was itching to make a phone call to anyone that was going to be willing to listen to him and provide a comfort.

Maybe if he called Roman, he would pick up? Or maybe the same would happen if he tried to call Raven or Taiyang. Hell, there was a part of him that even wanted to call Qrow and see how he was holding up with everything that was going to be happening the next day.

In the end, Junior did decide to make a phone call, but it wasn't to anyone at Xiong's, nor was it to Roman.

Instead, he called the one person that had been there since the day that he'd been born.

He laid there in bed, waiting through the rings until finally someone picked up.

"Hei?" The voice asked gently, his mother's voice. "Is something wrong?"

Junior took a deep breath, and then spoke. "Hey mom." He greeted her, hoping that he didn't sound like he was too upset with everything considered. "I just wanted to talk for a minute."

He could hear her doing something on the other end, moving around and trying to find something, but Junior didn't read into it too much. "Well, it's late." She said quietly. "Can it wait?"

That was a question that he was used to being asked, since she liked to ask it any time that he or James needed to call her for help for something. It was her way of making sure that they slowed down and breathed before screaming for anyone that would reach out and help.

But this wasn't like that.

"No," Junior said, keeping his voice quiet. "Not really, I just..." He took a deep breath, "the tournament's tomorrow and I'm just really nervous about it."

"Oh," Lin replied, her voice as gentle as ever. "Is that it?"

"Yeah," Junior replied, swallowing his nerves down as much as he could. It felt like a lump in his throat that was never going to be able to go away. "It's just that... we're in the black this month and that's great because it means that the gym's in good hands but-" He took a too-deep breath. "It's just that tomorrow's supposed to be the thing that makes or breaks things for us, you know?" He took another deep breath. "What if it goes wrong?"

"Junior." She started quietly. "If things don't work out, then that's okay."

"Mom-"

"Listen to me closely, Hei." Her voice was as stern as ever, so Junior just decided to relent, whispering a too-quiet confirmation to let his mother know that he was listening along to whatever she needed to say, and hoping hard that it was going to be enough. "If things don't work out with the gym, it changes nothing. I know that it's been..." Her voice trailed off. "Well, hard since we lost your father. But he'd be proud of you no matter what. You and James both, don't think that everything depends on how you do with the gym."

Junior listened closely to every word that his mother said, and on the surface, they felt like enough to offer him some comfort and make him feel a little bit better about everything that was going on at the moment. It was almost enough to relieve that clenching frustration that had built up in his chest, it was almost enough to help him relax.

He swallowed hard, trying hard to ignore the fact that he knew his eyes were beginning to grow wet with tears. Junior just stared up at the ceiling above him, focusing hard on a single spot there before he finally spoke up again.

"It's just that the gym means so much to us, you know?" Junior finally said quietly. "We're going to see everyone tomorrow and the tournament's going to happen, we just can't help but be worried about what's going to happen."

"Is James nervous?" His mother asked, her voice as quiet as ever.

Junior swallowed hard, since there wasn't really an easy way to answer that question. He was sure that James was nervous, but he hadn't shown him that for a second. "I think so?" He said finally. "The two of us sat down earlier so that we could look at our finances for the month but he was as...."

"Jamesy as usual?" Lin asked from the other end of the call, sounding mostly just amused by what Junior was saying. That was something that he couldn't be so surprised by most of the time. "You know he won't tell you." She paused. "He's gone to bed already, I'd assume."

"Officially, he has." Junior answered. "I can tell he's talking to someone on the phone though."

"Well," His mother's voice trailed off for just a moment. "If you boys want, I can come over and make you breakfast like we used to do when Dad was around."

"That would be great." Junior said finally, his voice somewhat quiet the entire time. It was an old tradition of sorts that they liked to hold onto, and this would be their first time doing so without their father around. In a way, that made it harder to think about going forward and doing that, but it was something that it felt like Junior needed to be a part of.

It was a chance to honor his father.

Lin hummed quietly. "I'll be over in the morning for you two, okay?" She asked. "Make sure that you let your brother know that I'm going to be over." Her voice trailed off for just a moment, like she was wondering whether or not something was wrong before she finally spoke up again. "Do you want me to come to the tournament and cheer on the team?"

That was a very good question, one that Junior wasn't sure he really had an answer for. His mother had been to plenty of these sorts of tournaments in the past, but before it had always been because either he, or James, or their father were competing. Now, she didn't have any stake in it other than the fact that it was Xiong's Fitness going to the tournament.

"I don't know." He said quietly. "If you want to, I don't think it'll hurt anyone." Junior swallowed. The only people that would probably end up feeling shocked by her showing up would probably be people from the other gyms in the area- when his father had passed away it had been no secret in the community around the city. For that first month or so, they'd received a lot of letters and notes, and gifts from other gyms around the area.

Tournaments like these were what they were all in it for, but at the end of the day, they tended to stick together at least on some level.

"Alright." His mother said quietly. "It's late, Hei. You should be getting to sleep, I'll call you before I come over in the morning, okay?"

Junior nodded, though he knew that it wasn't going to be able to really communicate anything to his mother. He took a moment and he knew that she heard him sniffle slightly before he spoke up again. "Okay," He said, his voice as quiet as ever. "We'll be sure to have everything ready for you."

"Alright," She almost sounded like she was smiling through the phone with that word. "Try to get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, mom." Junior whispered.

"Goodnight, Hei."

With that, the two of them said their quiet "I love yous" before Junior finally hung up and took a deep almost shuddering breath as the tears that he'd been holding back for what felt like an eternity finally slipped out. Junior set his phone down on the beside table that was next to him once he was sure that he had an alarm set before curling in on himself in a way, tugging the blanket up and over him so that he could almost hide underneath it.

All that he had to do was make it through the night, and then the day after. That was all that he had to do, and Junior knew that fully well, it was just a matter of making sure that he got there. Breakfast would surely help, but there were too many things that could go completely wrong over the course of the next twenty four hours.

There were the fights, for one.

There was breakfast, which was probably going to end up hinging on whether or not James was feeling well or not.

There was the fact that Roman was going to be there doing his best to help them was one more thing.

That wasn't even to consider how much of the day ahead of him was going to be based on him doing his best to comfort Team Xiong as needed. What was he going to do if Qrow ended up getting too close or abrasive towards his boxers? What if Qrow ended up setting James off for some reason?

There were too many variables, and Junior didn't know how he was going to be able to deal with any of it.

Junior didn’t sleep easily that night, because how could he? It was only once he managed to calm down and stop crying that things finally came together and he was finally able to rest, as unsound and fitful as it was.

Tomorrow was going to be hell.


	55. Pregame Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and James are joined for breakfast.

Junior got up first thing in the morning, and did his absolute best to ignore the sinking feeling deep in his stomach that was making it feel like it was impossible for him to get much of anything done. It was a nervousness that was enough to leave him feeling like he wasn't going to be able to eat once things got going. 

Anxiety, truly the best thing to wake to. 

He swallowed hard and walked over towards the door to James' bedroom, since it was going to be for the best if he made sure that James was up and moving alright before their mother arrived. He didn't know what he was going to get from James once he woke the guy up. Junior was willing to bet on crankiness, so before he made his way over to James' bedroom, he started a pot of coffee.

He needed everything to go write if he was going to make this work.

Junior swallowed hard and walked up to James' bedroom door. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"James!" He called through the door.

"Yes?" James answered, sounding both groggy but almost like he'd been shocked awake by something. "What is it?"

"Get up." Junior called through. "Mom's coming over for breakfast."

There was a silence on the other side of the door, and then James spoke up again. "I'll get ready." He mumbled, sounding a little bit calmer now but still a bit like something had violently shaken him into consciousness.

And that was it.

Junior went back to his own room since he needed to get dressed and cleaned up so that he could have breakfast with his family and then go straight to Xiong's for a quick pre-tournament pep talk with everyone before all of them went over to Green's for the fight ahead.

He quickly got dressed and sent a few text messages off to everyone before he went back to the kitchen to check on the coffee. He heard the sound of the shower clicking on, and so he just managed to be able to sit down and make himself comfortable while he waited.

The sound of a knock on the door told him that his mother had arrived for breakfast, and so Junior was quick to answered the door.

Sure enough, she was standing there with a few bags of groceries and looking as cheery as she always did. Lin stared up at him and smiled gently. "Good morning, Hei."

"Hey, mom." Junior replied, offering his hands so that he could take some of the groceries off of his mother's hands. "James is in the shower..."

"That's no problem." She answered as she began to clear out the kitchen. It was enough to put a pang of guilt in Junior's chest over the fact that they hadn't really done all that much to clean up the night before. "How are you feeling? Did you manage to sleep?"

"Yeah," Junior managed to answer. "I did, it was just hard."

"You'll do fine." Lin said quietly as she began to wash out the skillet that James had made their dinners in the night before before they'd had their tiny meeting. "I just want for you to go and do your best, okay?"

"Yeah mom," Junior mumbled. "I will."

The shower clicked off after another minute of them being there and then James hobbled out into the kitchen. Junior couldn't help but worry at the first glance at him, because if James wasn't going to be moving as easily as he could have been before they went to Green's and that didn't clear up, then they were in for a day of hell.

Lin set down what she had and turned to face James.

"Good morning," She greeted him.

James smiled softly and opened his arms for a hug, something that was rare for him. Lin's gaze softened and she stepped up to James, wrapping her arms around his waist gently. "Good morning, James."

The hug lingered, and Junior decided to pull his eyes away as a show of respect instead of letting his gaze stay there on James. He heard the sound of James quietly whispering something before the sound of James' uneven steps while he made his way over to the table to take a seat and rest for the morning.

Lin stepped back into the kitchen at Junior's side and shot him that look which silently ordered him out of the kitchen. He didn't protest it, just made his way out of the kitchen to take a seat across from James and wait while Lin made breakfast.

It was a deeply familiar situation. It was something that they'd been through so many times on their own, but always there had been a fourth presence there to lighten things. If this was a year before, he would have been hearing his mother and father banter while James sat there was quietly and as moody as ever listening along.

Even when they'd slip into Chinese, it was comfortable and wonderful, and Junior found himself loving every moment of the morning. His father would insist on tea for all of them, but James always wanted his black coffee. They'd tease him for it, but never deny him the drink.

Once breakfast was done cooking, they'd all sit down. Lin on his right, his and James' father on his left, with James across from him. His father would always give a pep talk which Junior knew that he was never going to be able to touch in intensity or power. They'd drive over to the gym in one car, and at the end of the night, they'd drive home in that same one car.

Dinner would be takeout. Always.

It was a ritual that Junior could only hope to be able to mimic but never properly emulate, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just meant that things had changed, and that they had to find the best way to keep moving and find a new ritual.

Having his father gone wasn't the worst thing imaginable. There had been two years in a row where things had been upside down and wrong, now. He had to be glad to have his family there as things were now.

First, it had been because James had been comatose in a hospital bed.

Now, his father was gone. And he was never coming back.

But despite all of that, this  _ was  _ his family. They may have been hurt, beaten, and broken down, but they were there, they were real, and they were as together as they could possibly be. They'd all suffered losses in the last few years- some more than others, Junior couldn't help but remind himself. That didn't make them any less of a family though.

If anything, that just made the little scraps that remained even stronger in the long run.

So they were going to sit there that morning, and they were going to share their pre-tournament meal as happily as they could manage because at least that way there was some degree of normalcy still being mixed into things. Junior tried to make himself as comfortable at the table across from James as was possible, and when he looked at the other man their eyes locked for just a moment. James shot him a gentle sort of smile in return.

If James was nervous about the day that was ahead of them, he certainly hadn't done anything to show that fact.

"So," Lin spoke up as she turned to face the food that she was cooking again. "Why don't you two tell me about what you're going to to be doing today aside from keeping Team Xiong in order?"

Junior looked back over at James, hoping that the two of them would be able to figure out some sort of speaking order for this. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before speaking up. "From what I know, Roman had wanted to get everyone together so that we could go out for a group dinner."

Lin paused. She set down an egg that she'd been getting ready to crack into a bowl and turned to face Junior. "Roman?" She asked quietly. "Your friend?"

Goodness,  _ that  _ was awkward, Junior thought to himself.

"Uh, yeah." Junior answered, trying not to feel like he was quietly dying at the revelation. "Not really just a friend anymore, but..." He shrugged, keeping his eyes low before he finally looked up at his mother to see whether or not she seemed to approve or not. "He's pretty great."

"Well," Lin spoke up, keeping her voice as calm as possible. "Whatever you decide doing, you know that I love you no matter what, Hei. Roman seemed rather charming when I met him."

Junior felt his heart almost jump in his chest at those words, because it meant that he had one less thing to worry about these days. He glanced over at James out of the corner of his eye, to see that his gaze was downturned and almost sad looking. LIke maybe he was hearing something that he'd needed to hear years ago and had never gotten a chance to hear.

There was some guilt that clenched in Junior's chest at that realization, but he tried hard not to let himself get bogged down in that thought. After all, he was close to being sure that James had figured out everything that needed to be done. Junior swallowed hard and said nothing though, since he was sure that it was the best thing that he could do for his brother.

"Thank you." He finally murmured, smiling and looking up at his mother again. "It means a lot to hear that."

She nodded and looked between James and Junior once more. "So aside from dinner, is there anything else that you're planning for?"

"Not really." James spoke up now, keeping his voice as level and even as he could. "Just dinner and then we're going to go home for the night."

"You'll have to let me know how things go." Lin said, sounding much more confident about everything than Junior felt. "Because I care about all of this just as much as you two, even if you don't want me to be there for it tonight."

"We'll be sure to do that." James mumbled quietly. "Thank you, mom."

Lin left the kitchen, walking over to where James was for just a moment to gently place a hand on his left shoulder. "Are you going to be okay today?"

"Yeah." James mumbled, patting Lin's hand for just a moment before she finally pulled away from him. That was James though- never a great fan of physical contact. "I think so."

"Well," Lin murmured. "If you end up needing something, don't hesitate to ask for help. I'm sure that between everyone-"

"I'll be fine." James cut her off quietly. "Thank you, though."

She just smiled softly and looked between the two brothers. "I just want my boys to be alright," She said quietly. "Both of you."

"We'll be fine." James said again, this time his voice a little bit more insistent in tone, though Junior couldn't really blame him for that. James had always hated being doted on and looked after even back when they were young. It was just that circumstances had put him into a situation where it was almost constantly necessary.

Not James' fault, by any means. Not anybody's fault, really.

Lin slipped away from the table where they were sitting and went off to the kitchen once again to continue making James and Junior breakfast. "If you two think you need anything today, don't feel like you can't ask." Lin spoke back to them over her shoulder. "Because I'm not going to be busy. Driving out to Green’s wouldn’t be a problem at all."

"We'll be sure to do that." Junior replied, smiling slightly as the scent of cooking bacon began to waft through the apartment. He swallowed hard and leaned back in his seat though, thinking of all of the things that needed to be perfectly in order if they were planning to keep everything running as smoothly as he and James wanted that day. They were both dressed and the car was filled with things...

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to bring some leftover breakfast with them so that they would be able to feed anyone that hadn't been able to get something to eat that morning? That could work, Junior thought to himself. Of course, everyone had their own little rituals that they liked to go through before fights, but the offer wouldn't hurt.

The three of them fell into a sort of comfortable quiet. James was checking something on his phone, and Lin was cooking. That left Junior mostly to his own devices, so he found himself checking things on his phone as well. However, unlike James, who he was sure was checking something on the news, Junior was mostly sending texts to Roman. It wasn't much, but being able to hear from the guy on what he had gotten together for the day ahead was comforting, in its own way.

That was the good thing about Roman. He was charm and helpfulness all wrapped up into one, incredibly neat package.

"Boys!" Lin barked into the dining room, which was more than enough to rouse them to attention. "Breakfast is ready. Come and get your plates."

Junior looked across the table at James, to see which one of them wanted to get their food first, and was just met with a gentle wave of the hand. He didn't question it, just got up and went to the kitchen so that he could get his food together. Once he was done, James filed in to do the same, though he seemed to linger there just a little bit longer than normal.

With all things considered, Junior couldn't really pretend as though he wasn't worried about everything. That was just how he tended to be when it came to James, so that lingering... it worried him.

Junior decided that it was for the best if he politely stayed out of it though, if not for James' sake, then for his. It wouldn't do for him to have even more things to worry about on a day like this one.

Lin was the last one to join the table, and when she did, they fell back into a comfortable rhythm that Junior had sorely missed. It was almost like everything was back to normal, and Junior was going to cherish every second of it.

"So," Lin spoke now, clearly having gotten sick of the quiet that had fallen over the three of them that day. "Has everything been alright here at the apartment?" She looked between the two of them, like there was a test of some sort that they were being dragged into without so much as a word of warning. "I know that you're in black for the gym-"

James shot Junior a look. There was a quick moment where Junior remembered that he hadn't really told his brother much of anything about what he and Lin had talked about on the night before. In fact, the only warning that James had gotten about there even being a visit that morning was the fact that Junior had woken him up before Lin had arrived.

Lin went quiet and looked between the two of them and just shook her head, entirely too used to the way that the two brothers tended to be. "Are things okay?"

"Yeah." James finally answered, but there was a tightness in him that Junior couldn't ignore. Something was wrong. "Yeah, things are fine."

Okay, so something was definitely up, and James wasn't going to tell them anything.

"James?" Lin asked, turning to face James more directly now. "Is something wrong?"

"No." James mumbled. "I was just..." He shook his head. "It's dumb, don't worry about it."

Junior felt a nervousness in his chest at that which was unlike anything that he'd been feeling over the course of the rest of the day. The knowledge that there was something being hidden from him was too much. It just ended up adding to his worries when he already had so many. 

"Nothing's stupid." Lin said quietly, doing her best to reassure James. "What is it?"

"I've just..." James stared down at the plate that was sitting in front of him, opening his hands slightly as he tried to find a way to just relax and speak up. Finish what he was thinking and say. "I've been thinking about moving out, is all."

That revelation seemed like it had been enough to shock the entire world into a standstill of sorts. Junior swallowed hard, his mind already swimming with possibilities for things that could end up going terribly, terribly wrong. How would he be able to hold onto the apartment and handle his finances? How would James be able to? 

It wasn't like the gym made them  _ that  _ much money.

"You want to be able to move out?" Junior spoke up now, figuring that it was probably for the best if his addressed this little issue himself. "Is-"

"I just want my life back, Junior." James said, keeping his voice as quiet as he could physically manage. "It's nothing personal, I just want to be able to be on my own again."

Lin reached out and gently placed a hand on top of James' right hand, which was surprisingly not met with great protest. "Whatever you want to do, I support you, James."

James just stared at her, his eyes flicking between Lin and Junior for a second before he forced a smile. "Thanks." He said quietly, balling his hands into loose fists when the contact broke and just staring down at his plate in front of him. "Things have been fine here at the apartment, I just want..." His voice trailed off. "I already said. That's all."

Lin turned her eyes to Junior, hoping that she'd be able to get some additional confirmation that things were fine there. Junior swallowed hard, forced on a smile of his own, and nodded. "Things have been fine." He said quietly. "No problems."

"I'm glad." Lin finally said, keeping her voice mostly down. "You two make me so proud, you know that?"

"Yeah." Junior said, his smile turning a little bit more genuine as he thought back to his talk with his mother the night before. His eyes flicked over to James, who was still staring down at his plate, something swimming in his eyes that Junior couldn't quite identify as being any emotion.

"Of course." James spoke up finally, making eye contact with Lin. "Thank you."

Junior smiled up at his mother and his brother and began to tear back into his meal. This was what made their family so comfortable, and he felt like he had something to fight for when he stepped into Green's Gym that night.

Even if he and James weren't going to be stepping into the ring, he knew that he had something worth fighting for.

That made things worthwhile.

Lin looked between him and junior and sighed quietly. "Eat your breakfasts-" She smiled. "You two have a big day ahead of you."

"Right." James mumbled. "Thanks, mom."

"Thanks mom." Junior answered with a smile before he really set into his meal. 


	56. Prep Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xiong's finally moves out for the big day.

Before James and Junior had even managed to arrive there, everyone was already gathered in the Xiong's Fitness parking lot. When he and James pulled in, Taiyang was cracking jokes and sitting on the hood of his truck with Raven, who was stretching and looking more than ready for everything. Even Peter was there, sitting back and relaxing while they got ready for the day ahead of them.

Well, there was  _ one _ person that was missing, but that wasn't the greatest concern. It was just Roman, and Junior was sure that he'd be making an appearance much sooner than later. If anything, he was willing to bet that Roman had gotten caught up trying to get together some last-minute supplies for the day ahead of them. 

Or maybe he was sleeping in. Or running late. 

Junior wasn't going to second guess it too much just yet. Roman would be able to get there for them, that was it. They'd be fine. Roman wasn’t going to let them down now.

So they pulled into the parking space that he and James usually took and was almost immediately met with a cheer from the small group that was waiting on them. Junior looked over at James, who shot him a semi-confident smile before the two of them parked and climbed out of the car one by one. This was the biggest show of camaraderie that they would share, and Junior knew that.

This was one of the things about the Xiong's fitness crew that Junior loved so much. They were always there for each other, in the end. Especially on days like that one.

"Hey, Junior!" Taiyang called to him the second that he emerged from his car. "Why so late?"

"Mom made breakfast!" Junior answered as he closed the door behind him and strolled up to the others to join them at Taiyang's car. James followed closely after him. "We have some leftovers if anyone thinks they want it."

Raven turned her head so that she could shoot Taiyang a look, which could easily be assumed to be all about trying to see how he was feeling. The blonde leaned forward, bracing himself against his car just slightly and looked directly up like he had found god in a way. "Well-" Taiyang laughed. "While I am always a fan of mama Xiong's cooking-"

Junior knew that he flushed over that little comment. "Yeah, well, it's just breakfast." He laughed quietly as he and James made themselves comfortable amongst the others. "How's everyone feeling?"

"Like I'm going to kick some ass." Raven commented, jutting one arm out like she was throwing a play punch. "Women's title is  _ mine. _ " 

"Yeah," Junior laughed quietly. "I don't doubt it." He looked over at Taiyang now. "Ready for the day?"

Taiyang's mouth dropped open just a little bit before closing again. His eyes had gone all soft, and there was that obvious nervousness built up in his body again that Taiyang just wasn't able to ignore anymore. The blonde's gaze dropped slightly before looking back up at Junior and James. "I think I'm about as ready as I'm ever going to be." He finally said with a slight shrug. His gaze snapped over to James for a second, asking a silent question.

James straightened up and locked his eyes onto Taiyang for a moment. "I'm sure you'll do well." James finally said, though he kept his voice down and seemed almost unsure of himself. "I can assure you that he is rested though."

Just like that, a lot of questions that Junior had from the night before got answered. The question of who James had been on the phone with the night before was answered with only one question that wasn't even a direct one.

"You talked to him?" Taiyang asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah," James finally admitted. "He was nervous last night."

Raven stared James down, her eyes narrowed before she finally asked a question of her own. "Why were you talking to my brother?"

"He called me." James replied as quietly and as calmly as he could manage. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to say that James wasn't comfortable with answering it. Junior had a feeling that it was a lie, but he didn’t want to get into the issue too much. It would just be another distraction that they didn’t need. "The point is, he's ready for the day, but he's nervous."

"You think we can-"

James shook his head, his eyes sliding over to Junior for just a moment. "It's best not to play the mind games today." He finally said quietly. "You all need to be on your actual game, not playing with Qrow."

There was a quiet laugh, and then Raven spoke up. "Sure thing,  _ Coach. _ "

James smirked and rolled his eyes over the nickname. "You're going to do well," He said finally, his voice surprisingly soft. "I trust in that."

Junior slid in next to his brother, knowing that it was probably for the best that he spoke up now. "Mind if I-?"

"Go ahead." James answered, stepping back away and leaning in against the car next to Taiyang, with his right high pressed against the car and his arms crossed over his chest. Junior swallowed hard, feeling his nervousness beginning to catch up to him all at once.

This was part of his job, he reminded himself. "I uh, wanted to say a few words before we-" 

There was the sound of a car horn honking not that far off from them. Junior picked his head up to see that it was Roman's car, and smiled widely as the man parked, with the top of his convertible still down. Everyone stared for a moment, and then Roman was climbing out of the car and joining all of them by Taiyang's truck.

"One moment." Junior said as he waited for Roman to fall in with the rest of them. "Hey Roman."

"Got caught up getting things for later on." Roman announced rather plainly. "What're we doing?"

"One of Junior's pep talks." Raven spoke up. "Might want to get with everyone else."

Roman raised an eyebrow, but he didn't question it. He simply stepped into line with everyone else and together, all of Team Xiong stared ahead and him and Junior had to remind himself that he had things that he wanted to be able to say to them. This was important, and he felt like he was at a loss for words all of a sudden.

So he swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he finally spoke up, thinking back on what needed to be done. "I uh..." He swallowed again, hoping that he'd be able to calm himself down and get things into line. "I wanted to tell all of you that we have a big day ahead of us, and that I believe in every single one of you."

Junior blinked, gluing his eyes onto the space over Roman's shoulder because that was just what could keep him from getting upset or worried. "It's... a big day. For all of us. I want for all of you to do well, and I think that all of you will be able to do it. You've all got fights ahead of you to look forward to, and I just need to let you guys know that no matter what happens, I'm going to be proud of you for whatever happens."

He swallowed hard, realizing that James and Roman seemed to have exchanged a word at some point, but tried not to focus on it too much. "So about today, we've gotten some things together in case you need something." Junior raised a hand to gesture over towards James. "Myself and James are going to be acting as coaches, and we've also got Roman coming along with us today."

Roman leaned forward. "I got food for everyone, so if you guys think you need something, come to me, James or Junior, and we should be able to hook you up." That brought the entire group's attention off of Junior for just a moment, and for just a little bit, he felt like he could breathe again.

While Junior took the chance to relax, he just let himself listen in to Roman as he talked about what was going on. As it turned out, someone had given Roman a list of things to pick up for the day, and he'd gone right ahead and made sure that he had everything that they could have possibly needed. Everyone was going to have their favorite foods, they had supplies for just in case they needed to patch someone up later on in the day.

James stepped forward and spoke up to let everyone know that they were going to have a way to hold onto everyone's things just in case they needed it. It seemed like they'd figured out everything that they could have possibly needed, and Junior was glad for it. Where people's phones were going to end up being when they were in the ring was something that he personally hadn't thought about. He hadn't thought about it at all.

Everyone seemed like they were going to be fine that day. There was a certain sort of confidence that showed up amongst all of them. Being able to have this sort of meeting before they went to Green's for the day was important. It meant that they were going in feeling like a team.

But the break couldn't last forever, and soon enough everyone was looking back over at Junior. He swallowed hard and accepted that this was just what needed to be done.

"Right." Junior started, flashing a smile at everyone and watching them all. "So if you think you need anything today, you can come over and just ask us for things." He shifted almost uncomfortably and once he was ready he continued. "We're here to help you guys succeed, and so the second that you need something, you can come over and find one of us. We'll hold your things, we'll get you anything that you think you need, hell, we'll give you a hug-"

Junior stopped himself, laughing as he looked between Roman and James. "Well, two of us will give you hugs." His brother seemed to flush dramatically at that, dropping his head and shaking it. In a way, it was the most human that James had seemed to be in a long time. It certainly had been a long time since he'd seen James ever flush like that.

There was a quiet laugh that emerged from the group, but nobody said anything about it. "The point is," Junior finally continued. "We'll be here, no matter what. And after this is all over, we can go out and get something as a group for dinner."

Taiyang whooped, and Junior couldn't help but to smile and shake his head over it. After that, there wasn't all that much that he could say to them- everything that he'd needed to say was out there and on the table, and they could leave at any moment to make things happen.

"Alright." Junior said. "C'mon, bring it in."

He opened his arms wide, and soon the others were all sliding their way in next to him. Junior found himself to James' right side, with Roman sliding in on his other side. The entire group fell into a huddle, and it acted as a group hug of sorts. Junior smiled and took in the togetherness.

The group lingered there like that for a moment before James spoke up.

"We have to get heading over towards Green's soon."

That was right, Junior reminded himself, before finally speaking up. "He's right." Junior pulled away, dropping his heads down to his side. "C'mon, we'll drive over together."

"Sounds good!" Taiyang said, turning and offering his hand to Raven, who took it somewhat nervously. The two of them made their way over to their truck, and Peter was soon off on his way to his own car.

That left Junior, James, and Roman there in the parking lot, waiting. Junior swallowed hard and looked over at Roman before quietly speaking up. "Is Summer coming?"

"She'll be dropping in later." Roman reassured him. "Don't worry about it, Baby Bear." His green eyes flicked between Junior and James for a moment, and Junior swore that he could feel James go stiff with nervousness for just a moment. But James politely excused himself and went over to the car where he took his seat and made himself comfortable.

For just a moment, he and Roman were alone.

"Thank you." Junior said once he was sure that there wasn't going to be anyone overhearing them. "I'll see you there?"

"Of course." Roman answered, winking and turning to head back over to his car.

Junior took a too-deep breath and went back to the car, where he climbed into the driver's seat and started his and James' car. Neither of them said anything for a moment, they just exchanged a look before Junior started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

James watched the others through the mirrors of the car to make sure that nobody was following after.

That wasn't enough to make Junior feel better about things, but knowing that there were people following after them on the way to Green's.

This was happening.

The day really was here, and all of a sudden, the reality of that seemed to weigh down on him harder than it ever had before.

James only whispered a few words to him as he pulled onto the roadway that was going to bring them straight across the city to Green's.

"It'll be okay, Junior." 


	57. The Eleventh Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finally gets to see what a tournament looks like in person.

Roman was the last one to pull into the parking lot at Xiong's, and when that happened, he was on the phone making a final check in that Summer was going to be there that day. As it turned out, she was, just needed a few minutes before she'd be able to leave since she'd gotten caught up needing to make sure that something that she was cooking was properly cooled before she'd be able to go.

So Roman hung up the phone and got out of his car. He watched as the Xiong's team made their way into the building, with Junior leading and James very intentionally going in last. They probably had to make sure that they had everyone was properly registered and checked in for the day, and so that left Roman in the back to get his things.

He took a moment at the back of the car to make sure that he had everything that he'd need for the day ahead. Roman pulled out bag after bag of groceries, and he was almost done when he felt someone slide in at his side.

A quick glance over told him that it was James, carefully lifting up a few bags himself. Neither of them said anything to each other, just made their way into the building. When they stepped inside, there was a table just off to the side where there was a group of fighters filling out paperwork, while Junior helped people along.

James didn't say anything to Roman, just assured someone at the door that Roman belonged there.

If anything, it just meant that Roman could feel a bit more comfortable while he was there. He knew fully well that he didn't belong there, with his eyeliner and mascara, but James made sure that he got through without much trouble. He wasn’t able to stop the weird looks, though. That was something that Roman had been expecting, but if he was expected to carry himself as he normally would,  he needed to be able to wear his face.

James led the two of them to a large table that had been set aside from them, and soon he was helping Roman to unpack everything wordlessly. Roman swallowed hard and looked up to watch James. "So this is what it's like?"

"I mean-" James hesitated for a moment, looking up at a random spot on the wall while he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. "It's what it's like before things get started."

Roman swallowed hard, as the feelings of nervousness that liked to grip onto him so easily began to rise in his chest. "So when things get going, what should I do?"

James shrugged. "Sit back and watch, I'd say." He answered, dropping his volume a bit. "Junior and I are going to be busy all day, and the others are probably going to be too busy and worked up to really spent their free time off with anyone." There was a certain sort of stiffness in his shoulders that wasn't going to let him go, and it was enough to make Roman feel even more nervous about everything. "Hey-" James spoke up again, his voice going soft just then. "It's going to be okay."

Roman blinked, knowing that his mouth had gracelessly dropped open a bit as he tried to think of something that he'd be able to say. "Thanks." He said finally, smiling back at James. There was a second where it looked like James was about to say something else, but that was quickly broken out of as Team Xiong joined them at the table.

Junior looked a little bit ragged already, and that was what made it sink in that this was going to be a long day for everyone involved. "Hey." Junior greeted the two of them. "Everything good?"

"Looks like it." James answered, standing up straight and holding his head up high. His eyes flicked over to Roman. "You did perfectly with the groceries."

It might have been the nicest thing that James had ever said to him, Roman realized quickly. He smiled back and even winked at James, just in a playful manner that couldn't be misinterpreted that much. So he just moved to shift some of the things on the table in front of him before turning and looking over at the group.

They were all removing their equipment from bags and putting them up on the table with everything else, and then there was Junior pulling James into his side with a sheet of paper in his hand.

The brothers spoke quietly, and Roman just found himself sinking back in with Taiyang, Raven, and Peter while they watched. He wanted to ask questions, but nothing quite came to mind. Taiyang seemed to pick up on his nervousness and just gave him a gentle nudge and a smile. "Excited?" Taiyang asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah," Roman whispered back. "I think so." He paused. "I mean, I definitely don't fit in here."

"You'll be fine," Taiyang reassured him. "Families and people's kids end up at these things, among all of that, you'll probably be fine." Taiyang shrugged. "And if it's your face that you're so worried about, don't be. Nobody will even notice you. Not with the bloodbath."

Somehow, those words were enough to leave Roman feeling a bit better about things. In a way, it felt like it was just everything that he'd been needing to hear from someone, and he hadn't been sure that he'd be able to get it from anyone. The one that he would have liked to hear form the most was Junior, but that just didn't seem that possible that day.

Although, Taiyang phrasing things as though it was going to be a violent mess was somewhat disconcerting. 

"Thanks," Roman finally said, smiling widely and looking over at Taiyang. "Feeling okay?"

"Fantastic." Taiyang answered with a brightness in his voice and eyes that suited him all too well. "We've got the schedule and I've got one of the early fights so I can..." Taiyang's shoulders shooks lightly, like he was giving an awkward laugh. "Well, we'll be able to set the bar nice and low, you know?"

Roman couldn't help but to frown just slightly, mostly because he couldn't help the feeling that this was something that Taiyang shouldn't have been saying. "You'll do great," Roman whispered back, looking up into Taiyang's eyes. "Summer said that she was going to be here in half an hour or something." He shrugged slightly, like it wasn't such a big deal, though he was sure that it was going to be enough to get Taiyang really going.

"Really?" Taiyang asked, his voice holding a little more excitement on it than it should have.

Raven didn't say anything, just shot Taiyang a look that read heavily as being annoyed with the blonde man. "You better not be getting distracted."

"I'm not!" Taiyang answered. "You're already here, what's adding Summer to the mix?"

It seemed to go completely quiet with that, in a way that Roman couldn't have possibly expected or predicted. Like there was something that had just been let out that never should have been let out. It reminded Roman of a conversation that he'd had with Summer, the day that he'd gone over to Raven and Taiyang's apartment. Ultimately it wasn't his business, but he was hoping that he hadn't just accidentally ruined things.

Raven blinked and her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Taiyang closely before shaking her head and sighing quietly. "We'll talk later." She said finally. "With her, not just the two of us."

"Right." Taiyang said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Of course."

"Look, I'm-" Raven started, but was quickly cut off by the sound of James' voice.

"Alright!" James said loudly, catching everyone else's attention. "We have the schedule so we're going to go over it together and figure out how things are going to look today, okay?"

Nobody protested it, but Roman was sure that if it had been announced at Xiong's there would have been a collective groan over the whole thing. James nodded though, looking entirely too calm, and then he continued.

"As things stand, we have all of your first rounds with times."

Those words alone were more than enough to snap the attention of all of Xiong's onto James and Junior. Those were the words that were were really going to push them to start doing things that day.

Junior looked amongst the group and flashed a quick smile in Roman's direction before going on. "Taiyang!" He called. "You're going to be fighting first of the group this morning, your fight starts at ten. Be ready. We'll be here to help you warm up." His eyes flicked over to Peter. "Your group will be starting just before noon, so you should also be ready for that."

There was a long pause, and they all seemed to look over at Raven. "Women's fights start at two, but you're going to be going into the ring at three." Junior smiled all too widely and all too gently. "Think you can be ready for that?"

"I was born ready." Raven responded, stretching slightly and rubbing at her shoulder for just a moment. "Think you two can be?"

Junior smirked. "We'll be ready." He replied, before taking a step back. "Over the course of the day, it'll probably be a good idea for you three to check in here with us between your fights. Just make sure that we know what you're up to and that you're doing okay."

"Sounds good!" Taiyang exclaimed, practically bouncing in the place that he was standing. "I can't wait to get into the ring later."

James laughed quietly, and it was a sound that registered to Roman as almost being a foreign one in a way. "Well, don't tire yourself out just yet." He said quietly, stepping forward and even putting a soft hand on Taiyang's shoulder. "You've all got long days ahead of you, and I don't want you three tired out before it's even time to go into the ring."

Taiyang groaned audibly and slipped out from under James' touch. "Yeah, I got it coach." He muttered, sounding almost frustrated. "I'm going to be fine, though."

"Doesn't matter." James replied, his voice stern as ever. "You need to be on your game. No distractions, no getting tired, none of that."

Roman blinked and took a step forward in Taiyang's direction. "Tai, Raven told me that you like chicken and rice before a fight?"

Taiyang blinked and smiled back at Roman, and then at Raven. "Well, that's great." He said, grinning far too widely. "Thanks, Roman."

"It's no problem." Roman replied. A quick glance at the brothers out of his shoulder told him that he was doing exactly what they needed for him to do. "Figured it was my way of helping out."

James raised a hand to quiet the group. "Either way, you all need to be getting ready for the day ahead of you. This is important, regardless of what the stakes are."

"Oh yeah?" Raven spoke up. "How?"

"Well for one," James laughed quietly. "There's glory, a cash prize, bragging rights," His eyes narrowed slightly as he focused in on Raven specifically, "Anything wrong with that?"

Raven blinked. "No," She murmured. "No, there's not."

"Good." James deadpanned before clapping his hands together and checking the time on his watch. "Taiyang, walk with me?"

Taiyang didn't protest it, just stepped up at James' side and began to follow the much larger man out of the building as the two of them went off to do do something. Raven shrugged. "I'm going to go take a look at the competition." She said quietly. "I should also probably check in on the baby brother."

She stretched slightly and began off on her own way. Peter murmured something himself, and then he was gone, leaving Roman and Junior alone for a little while. Roman took a deep breath, not really sure that he wanted to question this too much. This was the big day that they'd been preparing for for weeks. Now that it was there, it felt like everyone was actually too calm in a way, at least to Roman.

Shouldn't there have been more anxiety about the things that were coming up? Should James or Junior been whipping them into shape so aggressively that they had no choice but to succeed? Why were things so relaxed.

"Hey," Junior spoke up quietly, drawing Roman's attention back over in his direction. "Thanks for coming along and trying to help out so much, Roman."

"It's no problem." Roman replied, dropping his voice just slightly before sliding in next to Junior, but not too close. It was for the best that they didn't get too close. He didn't want to draw attention, after all. "I figured it was the least that I could do, like I said earlier."

"Yeah, well." Junior shrugged. "You've taken a lot of stress off of mine and James' shoulders without even realizing it. I hope that the day won't be too boring for you, though."

Roman blinked. He was partially worried about the day being uninteresting for him, but it hadn't been easy enough. Of course, there was the fact that he'd been learning more and more about boxing over his time at Xiong's, but that still wasn't enough to make boxing something that he was really interested in.

"I think I'll be fine," Roman finally said, keeping himself as calm as he could manage and even shrugging just slightly. "I've got you guys to be around, and once Summer shows up she should help out with things a lot in her own way."

Junior shrugged slightly. "Do you think that you're going to be able to run errands if we need you to?"

"I do." Roman answered. "Summer probably wouldn't be too upset about helping out with that sort of thing either."

Junior smiled back at Roman and nodded, seeming like that had been enough to reassure him about what the day ahead was going to be like, just slightly. The tall man sighed heavily and turned to the table before reaching out and beginning to rearrange it in ways that looked more comfortable. Realizing what Junior was doing, Roman quickly slid in at his side and took the job over without needing to say so much as a word to be able to coordinate between the two of them.

Roman taking over the process of organizing the table meant that there was more room for Junior to head off and get chairs for their table, just so that their space would be filled up enough that it would be comfortable. Besides, Roman thought to himself, it was probably safe to bet that they were going to end up with people wanting a place to sit and rest later anyways.

It wasn't long at all before every piece was in order and everything was in place as it should have been. Summer streamed in eventually with a few tupperware containers of what Roman could only guess were her best baked goods, and they were able to rearrange those to fit with the rest of the table.

The hours ticked by quickly, until finally, it was time.

The tournament began. 


	58. Round One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang has his first fight.

The tournament began after some words on behalf of the owner of Green's gym, followed by a representative of the governing body for boxing in their area. It was something that Junior personally could have slept through, since he'd heard the same speech so many times before, always at his father's side. However, there was a level of propriety that came in standing by and listening, and so Junior did just that, along with the rest of Team Xiong, Roman, and Summer.

He could feel himself getting to be more and ore nervous as the time wore on. This was it, everything that they'd spent so long preparing for was finally coming to fruition and in a way, Junior was excited. Not the good kind of excited where he was sure that everything was going to go well and that he was going to be able to relax. No, this was an excitement that left him feeling so nervous that he almost wanted to vomit.

Junior was sure that he wasn't the only one feeling that way, if he could judge by the way that Taiyang was shifting about where he stood so nervously, and the way that James was capping and uncapping a pen with his thumb. The only one of them that didn't seem to be touched by nerves was Raven, but since it was Raven he knew that he couldn't read into that too much.

She was probably just as upset and nervous as the rest of them, she was just  _ much _ better about hiding it.

It was a good thing though, Junior reminded himself. Having someone that wasn't visibly bending gave the others someone to lean on, in a way. It almost made everything feel like it was okay.

The speeches ended, and then the attention of the entire group shifted onto Taiyang as they began to get him ready and prepared for the fight that was ahead of him. For Raven and Summer, it meant talking to him and making sure that he was feeling confident about what was to come. For James, it was making sure that Taiyang was attentive, and ready for everything that was to come. It was giving last second words of advice, and making sure that Taiyang knew what was going to happen once things got going.

Eventually it was Junior's time to come in and talk to Taiyang about what he was going to have to look forward to. He slid in in front of the man as easily as he could and drew Taiyang's attention onto him.

"Tai." Junior said, hoping that it was going to be enough to catch the man's attention and keep it away from everyone else for just a  little bit. "How are you feeling?"

"Ready." Taiyang answered, focusing in on Junior closely as Junior began to make sure that his hands were strapped into his gloves properly. "What do you think?"

"You're ready." Junior replied, setting his hands on Taiyang's shoulders for just a moment as he tried to think of something,  _ anything _ that he could say to Taiyang to offer him some small scrap of advice that could help. Nothing came to mind though, so he just stepped in and hugged Taiyang for just a moment before pulling back. "Go to the ring. Me and Jim will be there with you in a second."

Taiyang nodded and half-jogged his way over to the ring where he climbed up into it without too much issue. Junior stayed back for just a moment with Junior to exchange a look with James and then they were on their way.

The man that Taiyang was going to be fighting was of a similar build, but looked like he'd probably been training for a year at most, based on how muscular he was. It was entirely possible that this was the man’s first proper tournament, but that was something Junior was less comfortable speculating on. If Junior was guessing correctly, he was sure that this might be a fairly easy fight for Taiyang. Of course, that remained to be seen, but for now, he was sure that it was going to be a bit of a show.

Ideally the fight wouldn't last that long, but Junior wasn't going to be relying on knockouts for that day. Maybe Raven could give them consistently, but it wasn't worth speculating on.

Right now, this was about Taiyang, and Junior wasn't going to let himself forget that. He climbed up onto the side of the ring while James began to organize the stool in the corner that was going to be Taiyang's resting place between rounds. When Junior looked over at James, he realized that James was exchanging some words with one of the judges before things got going.

But James didn't let that last long. He draped a towel over the stool and then he turned to Junior again. "We're ready." He said quietly. "Ready for showtime?"

"I am when he is." Junior answered, looking back over at where Taiyang was in the ring. It was so close, and they needed to just stand by and watch. This was what they'd been training Taiyang for over the course of months.

It was the moment of truth, in a way.

So Junior had to watch in what felt like slow motion as Taiyang took his first steps towards the center of the ring. No matter what, he was proud, Junior reminded himself. No matter what, Taiyang was going to do the very best that he could.

This was it.

It was happening.

The world seemed to start and end again with a bump of fists against fists.

The two fighters separated for just a moment before sinking into position so that they could fight almost immediately. It sounded like the two of them managed to mumble something to each other through their mouth guards, but it didn't last long.

The first round began, and to some of Junior's relief, he got to watch as Taiyang took a more defensive starting approach, just doing his best to feel out his opponent. Hit after hit registered against Taiyang's gloves as the man shifted and turned himself to make sure that nothing went through to his body.

All at once, Taiyang sidestepped his opponent, bobbing out of the way so that he could deliver a direct, hard punch to the man's shoulder. Soon he had to take a defensive stance again once the other man realized what had happened, but Taiyang didn't let himself waver.

The first round ended, and Taiyang returned to the corner so that he could be checked up on and given water. Junior climbed up onto the edge of the ring as Taiyang got close.

"He's tough-" Taiyang said, blinking as he got out his mouthguard. "Do you-"

"You're doing great." James answered, offering a bottle of water and holding it in place so that Taiyang could drink as much as he needed. "Keep it up and you'll have a win."

"Really-"

"James is right," Junior spoke up now, reaching out to check that Taiyang didn't have any injuries that they were going to need to look into. "We trained you for speed for a reason, just keep moving and keep him guessing."

Taiyang nodded. "Alright." He said, shaking his arms out to the sides for just a moment to try and calm himself down before taking one last sip of his water and popping his mouthguard back in.

The bell went off to tell them that it was time to prepare to fight again, and Taiyang turned and approached the center of the ring on cue. Junior looked over at James, who simply shot him a sheepish sort of smile and a shrug.

Neither of them had lied about what was going on to Taiyang, Junior was confident about that. They just needed to make things work. Taiyang could hold this together.

The bell was rang, and Taiyang jumped back into action for round two. This time,  he'd changed out his strategy entirely, moving quick and being sure to bob out of the way and deliver hard counterstrikes to his opponent's body at every turn.

The best thing from a judge's standpoint was that each hit was direct. If Taiyang could keep this momentum through round three, then he was sure to win the match entirely and be able to move on to the next round.

For a moment Junior did worry though, when he heard more than saw an impossibly hard hit land against Taiyang's ribs. If it hurt, Taiyang sure as hell didn't show it. Junior partially suspected that he was riding a good enough adrenaline high that Taiyang was going to end up feeling everything later on.

"James-"

"He's fine." James reassured Junior, watching the fight just as closely as Junior was. Junior watched James turn his head out of the corner of his eye to take a look at what else was going on. Probably just checking up on the others. Soon, James was focusing back on the fight though, and the bell rang. "He's doing great."

Taiyang made his way back over to the side of the ring, and Junior and James very much had to repeat the same ritual that they'd needed to use before. Checking for injuries, giving Taiyang water, and reassuring their friend, but James did something unsuspected.

"Taiyang." James said, his voice even. "Don't tire yourself out too much, there are still matches that you're going to be in later on."

"But-"

"Tai." James reached out, cupping the sides of Taiyang's cheeks gently. "Don't tire yourself out too bad. We can't help you if you gas out too much." James pulled away, bringing his right hand back behind him and out of the way so that there'd be less for people to notice. "You're doing great, just be careful."

"Got it." Taiyang murmured. "Thanks, Jim."

James smiled gently and pat Taiyang on the shoulder. "Kill him for me."

Taiyang's grin widened, so far that there was a slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes, and then he was turning back and heading back to the middle of the ring.

Junior looked over at James and raised an eyebrow, a little bit unsure of how to read what had just happened, but mostly feeling grateful for the fact that James had managed to put some of Taiyang's confidence back in him.

Round three began, and it seemed like Taiyang had taken James' advice.

He was back to his round one strategy, taking his time and trying to defend rather than go for highly offensive styles. Soon enough it changed though, and Taiyang was turning the tables, stepping in close to his opponent, and delivering a single strike so hard that Junior could have sworn he'd heard something dislocate.

The man he was fighting slumped. He'd already been moving slowly, but he stayed down. Taiyang took a step back, not getting himself ready to stop fighting, but cautious.

The referee was there, counting.

One.

No motion.

Two.

No motion.

Three.

No motion.

The referee counted all the way to eight, and that was it. Junior felt himself relax all at once as Taiyang's wrist was grabbed by the referee and held above his head, declaring a winner.

Taiyang had won his first match of the day, and he’d done it rather handily.

Unable to control himself, Junior allowed himself to cheer a little bit for his friend.

Junior knew that he had just done the least dignified thing that he could have possibly done there. He knew that he'd bounced and hollered in excitement, and grabbed onto his brother's shirt only to be pushed away.

He and James had to stand there for a moment while standings were updated, and once Taiyang was ready, the three of them walked back over to the table where Team Xiong was waiting and looking universally excited.

"That. Was. Amazing!" It was Summer who was possibly the loudest. She seemed to half-fling herself towards Taiyang, who caught her with a laugh and pulled her in close for a kiss. Junior smiled slightly and glanced over to see that Raven wasn't there.

Of course.

Qrow was probably also fighting, but that didn’t matter as much. He’d stop by and visit them later on, when he felt like it was appropriate. Junior was sure of it.

Taiyang and Summer began to chatter excitedly for a moment before Raven was coming back over to their table and saw Taiyang and Summer. She didn't say anything, just slid in between the two of them for some kisses of her own and whispering words of encouragement and congratulations.

The world was right, and everyone on Team Xiong seemed to be at peace. Taiyang had won his match, and now he was going to have plenty of time to recover before he had to step into the ring again.

Roman was quick to move to action, preparing Taiyang a plate of victory food and sliding him a bottle of blue gatorade which Taiyang gratefully accepted. The blonde took a seat, and soon all of Xiong's might have been there for an impromptu meeting that they didn't quite need.

Junior took his seat and looked over at Raven, who was stretching and looking like she was ready to kill whoever the unfortunate soul that ended up in the ring was going to be. He smiled up at the black haired woman, and she smiled back, in that slight way that she always would.

"Think you're ready?"

"Yeah." Raven answered, stretching slightly and glancing over at Taiyang for just a second to check something before looking back at Junior. When she spoke again, it was with a hushed voice. "Qrow won his match. He and Tai might meet in the next round."

Junior nodded slowly, not at all feeling that pleased with the news himself but there wasn't that much that he could do about it. "Alright." He answered, nudging James' shoulder to make sure that the message was passed on.

They seemed to be doing well enough. Qrow would be an obstacle, but they knew at least in part what they wanted to do and how they were going to do it.

"Figured I should let you know."

Junior shrugged. "You might want to tell Tai."

"I'm letting him have his victory celebration first." Raven answered with a slight shrug. "He deserves it. Sounds like he earned it."

"Yeah, he did." Junior answered, crossing his arms over his chest as he allowed himself to relax a litte bit more for the time being. This was a time to celebrate. Everything else could come later on. "He gave a good match, that's for sure."

Raven smiled slightly, glancing at Taiyang and Summer out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah," She said. "He does."

Junior swallowed, knowing that there were things that he wanted to say or do. They'd already had so much excitement that day just on account of one fight, and there were still more matches and more rounds to go ahead of them. Of course, there was going to be some better chances for them to watch and relax over the course of the day.

At least, that was going to be true for everyone that wasn't him or James. One of them needed to be there at all times to make sure that everything was in ordering and happening in ways that made sense. One of them needed to be able to make sure that things didn't end up going completely wrong.

One of them needed to be there to keep everyone in line.

The good thing about that for Junior was that taking control of things was very much James' territory. You could rely on James to take charge over a situation before it fell apart. That meant that Junior would get chances to breathe but..

If James ended up dropping off in pain or his own head, then that was going to be an issue in itself. They needed to be able to collect themselves as a group.

They needed to be able to keep things even over the course of the day if there was going to be anything that could even remotely be called a success.

Raven slipped back away, and so Junior took the chance to slide in near James, who was quietly watching the rest. He seated himself there, and watched his brother's movements out of the corner of his eye to make sure that James wasn't in pain before finally speaking up, his voice hushed.

"Jim-" Junior started, with just a gentle nudge.

"Yeah?" James replied, just as quiet as Junior was.

"Qrow and Tai both advanced to the next round."

James didn't say anything else. He only nodded slowly in understanding because there was nothing else that needed to be said. James seemed to be staring off into space for just that moment, trying to figure something out. It didn't last long before James spoke up again. "Based on the bracket, if they both win this round they'll end up facing each other."

"So-"

"We're safe for now. Later is..."

“Later.” Junior sighed. 

It was almost a relief, Junior thought to himself silently. He hadn't known whether or not he was going to have to worry for mind games until later, and it seemed like they still had some daylight to burn before that was going to become an issue. Once again, James' memory served to relieve.

"Alright." Junior whispered before looking amongst the rest of the fighters. "I'm going to take Peter to go get him ready."

James nodded in understanding, and that left Junior to stand up straight, stretch, and bark for Peter to come with him for a little while.

Together, he and the smaller man slipped away and outside of the gym where they could be sure that they were going to have a chance to talk things over and work out anything that needed to be worked out.

It was going to be a long day. 


	59. Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets a feel for the group.

"So I had no idea that this sort of thing could be so  _ awesome. _ " Summer smiled as she stood about twenty feet away from one of the rings with Roman, Raven, and Taiyang as the four of them watched Peter's match. It wasn’t exactly going smoothly, but it was at the very least a good show. "Why didn't any of you tell me?"

"Didn't come up." Taiyang laughed quietly. He looked pretty good, and they were lucky that it didn't seen like any injuries or bruises were beginning to bloom on his body. "I'm glad you're having fun though."

"It's been  _ wonderful. _ ” Summer cooed, turning to face Taiyang a little bit more closely.

Roman didn't do anything himself. He just smiled and shook his head, having some fun with the consummate ridiculousness of the situation but ultimately not feeling that worried. His day so far had been tiring and somewhat lonely, but Summer's arrival had helped to relieve some of that at least. It wasn't by any means a perfect arrangement since Summer was looking after Taiyang and Raven a lot of the day, but it worked.

That was what Roman could really take comfort in.

Across the board, everything was working out. Everyone was happy, for the most part. That was all that he could have really hoped for.

And the best part of it was? For Roman, he was supposed to be working and doing his part to help the group along, but despite that, it didn't really feel that much  like work. Most of his job felt like he was just hanging out with a group of friends. Like now, for instance.

The table that they were using was more or less secure, if only because there was nothing of value on it and every other group in that gym had a similarly covered table. There wasn't a gym that hadn't shown up with their own supplies to keep their fighters fed. That was a good thing.

So now he was able to stand with the others while they watched Peter fight, and James and Junior were at work with the actually hard business that needed to be handled.

"Hey, Roman!" Taiyang spoke up, reaching up to pull him in close and direct his attention onto something. Roman didn't protest it, mostly because he didn't think that this was really work protesting all that deeply.

"Yeah blondie?" Roman spoke up, smiling over at his friend. "So, you have got to tell me, what do you want?"

" _ Did you see that? _ " Roman blinked, a little bit unsure of what he was looking for as he watched Peter make his way back into the corner to be checked over. They needed to be sure that he was safe, after all. And healthy. And there was probably something else that needed to be done. 

"Sure thing," Roman answered finally, hoping that it was going to be enough that he could brush off some of Taiyang's playfulness, if only for a little while. "You guys could have told me that this was what it was going to be like." He smiled widely and shook his head. "I thought I'd have more work to do."

"Nah," Taiyang answered with a slight shrug. "You didn't have anything to worry about. But we like the cheerleaders." The blonde's smile widened almost impossibly, and Roman didn't think that anyone on the planet could have missed the way that Summer turned the color of a cherry tomato. Roman figured that Taiyang had winked at her, but didn't read into it too much.

Taiyang was a good looking guy, after all. He probably would have done the same thing if he'd gotten similar treatment.

"Well," Summer spoke up now, almost sliding in between Roman and Taiyang. "We are glad to provide the service."

"And I am  _ so _ glad to receive your services-" Taiyang looked over at Raven now. "Right Rae?"

"Yeah, yeah." Raven rolled her eyes with the words, looking a little playful even for her norm. That was a surprise in itself, Roman thought. The one that never seemed to relax like this was Raven, and so seeing her like this… Roman wasn’t sure whether this was Raven in her element or out of her element. 

The Xiong group was always interesting like that, Roman thought. He liked them, and they made it more than easy for him to be able to do that. He didn't want to lose any of them.

Of course, it seemed like that was almost inevitable seeing as this was technically the day that his contract came to its end. That alone complicated everything, it almost made it hard for him to enjoy his time with the others. He wanted to be able to stay close and enjoy his time with his friends, but it was too hard.

For now, Roman figured he was able to fake it. He could pretend as though everything was fine and things could work out well enough that way.

They others were all happy and seemed to be content with the situation, despite everything. Hell, Taiyang already had a win for the day under his belt, Raven was more than ready, and Summer...

Well, Summer was just having a good time while she was there. Roman was glad for her.

He swallowed hard, trying hard to school his expression so that there couldn't be any visible sign of him feeling distress. He needed to hold his feelings back and be strong for them. For just a little while, he had to. It was all that he could do for them.

"Well-" Taiyang grinned widely, slipping away from Roman and turning to face the two others as he walked back over towards the Xiong table so that he could get something to drink. The others all adjusted how they were standing so that they could see what was going on with Taiyang.

Roman felt bad for turning his back on Peter's match, but his attention was on Taiyang.

And the blonde seemed like he was doing well, as he leaned back against the wall behind the counter and unscrewed the cap of his drink. Hell, Taiyang seemed almost cocky, even, Roman thought. He supposed in theory that was a good thing.

"I think we can all use the cheerleading." Taiyang finally said as he relaxed a bit more. "I mean-" He shrugged again. "I've got another round coming up soon, Raven's got some fights later, Peter's in the ring." His eyes dropped down as he stared down into the drink in his hand. Taiyang seemed to be hesitating for a while before his gaze travelled back to Roman and glued onto him.

"Besides-" His voice was quieter than it had been at any other point that day. "Someone's gotta be there for James and Junior too. They only get so much out of this, you know?"

Taiyang's words were enough to make the atmosphere of the room shift almost completely. All of the happiness and entertainment that had been there seemed to have been sucked out of the situation at once. Roman didn't want to think about it. He didn't like the way that his heart seemed to beat too hard in his chest at that.

Of course, he supposed that he was mostly there for Junior that day more than anyone else.

It hurt to think about, but it was what it was.

"Right." Roman finally said, half standing at attention and picking his head up to try and seem confident and proud. "We're all here for them, right?"

"Roman." Raven spoke up now, her arms crossed over her chest in a way that read as being somewhere between insecure and angry. But of course, that was probably just Raven's default state of being. "How's the gym doing?"

"It's fine." Roman gave his response, though he wasn't sure that it was going to be enough. He didn't know that anything was ever going to be enough to comfort them. "The last time that I talked to them about it there was nothing new to report. But things have been doing better, and you shouldn't think it's not."

"But-"

Roman shrugged. "You guys realize that after today i'm not  _ technically  _ part of..." His voice trailed off for a second. "Team Xiong. My contract ends, and then if they aren't happy with my work, I'm out of your lives and you can all move on without me." Roman  took a deep breath. This wasn't what he wanted to talk to them about. This wasn't what he wanted to be confronting any of them with.

"But-" Roman raised his voice, knowing that he needed to be able to change the tides. He needed to make it possible for the others to not get dragged down with the inevitability of him leaving. On that particular day, the gym couldn’t afford it and that was something that rang so loudly in the back of Roman’s head. He needed to get Taiyang focused again."That shouldn't be what you're all thinking about today." Roman explained, realizing that this might have been him needing to give them all a pep talk of his own. "Those guys-" He shrugged. "They're aware of all of that. They know perfectly well what's going on. And they would want you guys to be focusing on other things."

"He's right." A voice piped up. Summer's. "This doesn't have to mean the end of anything," She explained, smiling and stepping up to Roman's side so that she brushed against his arm affectionately. "I'm still going to be around regardless, and based on how close Pumpkin has ended up with everyone, It's just the end of a professional relationship."

"You mean that?" Taiyang asked, watching Summer and Roman equally closely.

"Yeah," Roman replied, smiling over at Summer for just a second before smiling at the others. "I'm still going to be around. No matter what."

"What are we talking about?" Another voice joined the fray, and they all turned to see that it was James, Junior, and Peter, all looking a bit worse for the wear following Peter's match.

"Nothing." Taiyang said with a shrug. "How'd it go?"

"Not as well as it could have," Peter spoke up with a slight shrug. He looked tired, Roman thought. LIke he'd taken a few hits too hard to the head and wasn't in good shape. "I think I'm calling it a day."

"Ah," Taiyang spoke up, frowning now. "Well, I'm sure you did well."

"Thanks." Peter replied before beginning to gather his things wordlessly. Roman swallowed hard, knowing that he didn't really want to be there for the situation This wasn't something that they'd wanted, but it had felt mostly inevitable, he supposed.

They weren't going to leave with only wins. That had almost been guaranteed.

It was absolutely critical that they didn't take Peter getting knocked out early on so hard. If they let that bog them down over the rest of the day, then they had a very bad day ahead of them. It was theoretically enough to throw all of them off for the day ahead.

Roman knew fully well that it was his job to keep Raven and Taiyang on top of things despite everything.

So Peter left the building, and that left what remained of Team Xiong to continue dealing with things over the rest of the day. James looked between the group with some nervousness before his gaze went to Qrow. Roman looked at the man and raised an eyebrow. He was expecting for James to bring out some sort of weird last-second pep talk, but didn't think that it was going to be enough.

"Jim?" Junior spoke up, watching James as well.

"Don't let this stop us." James finally said, his voice hard and expression harder. "Just because one of us has been knocked down, it doesn't mean that the rest of you will be too." He put on the best smile that he could, and it definitely wasn't enough. They just had to hope that they were all going to be able to stay on top of things.

James took a deep breath, and it seemed like a couple of the others in the group had gone ahead and mirrored it. Silence fell over the group, just for a little while, and then James picked his head up and stood tall. "We should get to work." His gaze flicked over to Junior and Raven. "Go start warming up."

"Got it coach." Raven replied, stepping up next to Junior and wrapping an arm around his playfully. For a second, Roman felt a slight pang of jealousy over it. This wasn't something that he'd been expecting to see, but it was happening. The two of them went off on their way.

That left James, Roman, Summer, and Taiyang there, for only a little while.

"So, what'll it be now for us, Jim?" Roman spoke up, watching the tallest of the four of them closely.

"Now?" James spoke up. He looked at Taiyang directly. "Are you going to be able to do your match later?"

"Yeah," Taiyang said quietly. "I'll be okay for a little while. Thanks for asking, James."

"It's no problem." James lowered himself down into one of the seats, reaching for the cooler and removing one of the bottles from inside of it so that he could hold it against the back of his head. The man's eyes slipped shut, and Roman decided then to slip into the seat next to James. Maybe this was just a chance that they all needed to take to relax. "Just doing my job."

"Right," Roman mumbled. "Of course."

Summer seated herself next to Taiyang and the two of them made themselves comfortable for just a little while. She sat up straight and adjusted her clothes, blinking and watching the rest of them for a moment. It was almost nerve wracking, and then she spoke up. "Do you think things are going well?"

James kept his eyes closed, and when he talked, his lips barely seemed to move. "I think they're going about as well as Junior and I could have expected." James mumbled. "Taiyang's performing well, Raven's confident. We didn't expect perfect wins."

"So-"

"So things are fine." James said again, finally removing the bottle from the back of his neck before opening the bottle and drinking from it. "Taiyang, you'll do well." 

"Thanks, coach." Taiyang said quietly before looking over at Roman and Summer for a second. "When should I start getting ready for the next round?"

"I'll let you know." James answered. "You won't go into it unprepared, I can assure you of that."

"Right." Taiyang said, forcing on a smile for just a little bit. "Thanks, Jim."

"It's no problem." James replied, smiling back at Taiyang before setting the bottle back down on the table beside him. "I'm doing my job, don't worry." He smiled between all of them. "We all are, and we're doing better than.." James shrugged, pulling his eyes away from the rest of them for a moment. "Well, better than we could be."  

"Real vote of confidence there." Taiyang answered.

James nodded slowly and watched the lone boxer amongst the four of them. "It'll be fine." He said. "Tai, you should be thinking about your strategy for the next round. We have the bracket so we know that we won't have to worry about you fighting Qrow just yet."

Taiyang's eyes seemed to light up slightly over those words, realizing that it was time to start preparing. "Who am I fighting?"

"Some guy that came in independently." James said, keeping his voice as even as he could manage. At least, that's what Roman thought was happening. It wasn't really outside of the norm for James to go into every situation from as controlled a standpoint as possible. That was just how James was. "Name's Reed or something like that."

"What do you know about him?" Taiyang asked.

"I didn't catch his fight." James said with a slight shrug. "I think you're probably going to have to feel him out the same way that you did in your first match."

Taiyang nodded in understanding before looking over at Roman. "Did you see him?"

"Afraid not." Roman replied with a slight shrug. "I"m sure you can do it."

Taiyang's face broke back into a smile for the first time in a while, and it was enough to help them all relax for just a little bit. If they had Taiyang smiling, then it meant they were in good shape. "So you think I can do it?"

"If you take it anything like you did your first match, absolutely." James replied as calmly as he could manage. "You're good Taiyang, don't let anything get you down over this." 

Taiyang smiled and nodded, his grin widening slightly when Summer gripped his hand and gently squeezed. There was something in it so loving that they didn't know what to make of it. All that Roman could think was how it looked like they were ready to cuddle up in a second if they needed to.

"Thanks, James." Taiyang said, leaning back into his seat a bit now. "You do pretty well yourself."

"Just doing my job."

"Yeah, well," Taiyang grinned, tilting his head up and watching them closely. "You're good at it, Jim."

James seemed to fight hard to force on a smile at that, but he didn't say all that much. Like there were things that he just didn't want to air out in the open for people to be able to hear. He stood up straight and sighed heavily before looking back up at Taiyang.

"You're going to do fine, Tai." He said quietly. "I know you."

Taiyang smiled softly back at James in nothing more than pure affection, Roman noticed. At the end of the day, everyone who worked there were friends. It was their best trait, in a way.

"Thanks, Jim."

James didn't reply. Just nodded and stretched slightly. "Mind joining me for a walk?"

Taiyang nodded and followed after James, leaving Summer and Roman alone once again, as had happened so many times already over the course of that day.

Roman couldn't resent them for it.


	60. Poisoned Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven's good at things.

Raven was ready. Raven had been  _ born  _ ready, she was cut from steel and she was ready to kill should the need arrive for her to act in that way. She was tightly muscled and she was  _ beautiful _ .

Most of all, she was  _ deadly _ . Poison on the edge of a knife, or something  with teeth and claws, always waiting to strike.

It was a constant mantra that seemed to be running through Junior's head as he and James walked up to the edge of the ring while Raven stretched and prepared herself for the match ahead of her. There were others there, all getting ready to watch the fight too.

But James and Junior were the only ones directly at ringside.

They both seemed to be of the opinion that Raven wasn't going to need them, but neither of them wanted to voice it. They had a lot of work ahead of them, and they needed to do their best to be there for her most of all.

The match was about to start when a third body shouldered its way in between James and Junior, and the person that separated shouted.

"Rae!"

Qrow, of course. Junior glanced over at James, who seemed wholly uncomfortably at the moment.

"Yeah, Qrow?" Raven turned to face her brother for a moment, arms down at her sides and her expression reading as mostly being bored. It wasn't a bad thing. "What?"

"Kill her." Qrow replied with a wide grin. "For me."

"Yeah, I'm going to." Raven replied before Qrow was quickly forced out of the space between James and junior and off on his own way.

Junior took a deep breath of his own as he just tried to calm himself down and get ready for the things ahead of them. He needed to be focused, as did James and Raven.

James he wasn't worried about.

Raven raised her hands in front of her face and fell into a fighting stance, obviously ready to strike as soon as the bell sounded.

She was going to do fine too, Junior thought to himself. This was Raven.

If anyone from Xiong's Fitness was going to make it all the way to a trophy, it was Raven.

She just had strength in ways that the others did not.

The match started, and the only thing that Junior could think of Raven when he watched her was that she was  _ ruthless _ . She attacked her opponent so viciously that there was no way that she could have lost. The first round had begun almost as quickly as it seemed to have ended.

It was fast, it was hard. Raven didn't let people get past her, and she didn't waver in her focus on the other woman that was in the ring with her for so much as a second. Raven didn't let a hit land, and when she did, her opponent’s strike was  _ always _ inconsequential.

The round ended, and Raven returned to the corner with Junior and James. Junior and James exchanged a look for just a moment as both of them tried to come up with something that they wanted to say to each other. They had never been put in a situation where they were with someone so ruthless that they wouldn't have anything to do when she was between rounds.

So when Raven approached them, she ended up sitting down on a stool and calmly toweling herself off between sips of water. Junior found himself leaning in against the ropes and massaging Raven's neck beneath her hair. It was the least that he could do.

"Feeling good?"

"Like a loaded gun." Raven replied, letting her eyes slip shut for just a moment. "She's not getting in."

"Raven?"

"I'm going for the jaw once the round starts." Raven replied, her eyes narrowed. She looked up at James, who had seemed to go stiff at that comment. They all knew about James' glass jaw, and it seemed like now it was his turn to lend some advice.

"You think you can get there?" James asked, keeping as calm as he could manage. "Her blocking seemed strong."

"She holds it too low." Raven replied, almost sounding entirely cocky when she spoke. "I can get in through her side and into the jaw. Should drop her from there. After that-"

James didn't say anything, and Junior just kept on rubbing Raven's shoulders to keep her calm. "Don't do anything reckless."

"Reckless is Qrow's thing." Raven answered, tilting her head back slightly to look up at Junior properly. "I'm good."

"Yeah." Junior said as he pulled his hands away from Raven. "You are. Don't end up hurting yourself though."

"I won't." Raven growled back at him, rolling her shoulders and pushing herself up to her feet as the timer that was going to bring them to the next match ticked down and down.

"Good." Junior answered as Raven finally stepped away from the two brothers so that she could make her way towards the center of the ring where she waited for her opponent.

Just by watching the redheaded woman that Raven was fighting, Junior was sure that he had come across something special. She was scared. Having Raven on Team Xiong was turning out to be an actual  _ lifesaver. _

In theory, Junior wouldn't have even been surprised to see someone that Raven got matched against withdraw out of nothing more than pure fear.

And honestly, he wouldn't have blamed them. Raven was the one person that he knew other than James that had probably killed someone at some point. Of course, that was largely speculative. Regardless, neither would have surprised Junior at all.

The only difference was that James had circumstances on his side.

Raven probably didn’t, assuming that she had killed someone at some point.

But the other woman did eventually slide into line across from Raven and the two bumped their fists together  to confirm that both of them were ready to fight once that bell went off.

Junior almost found himself holding his breath, but the alarm went off soon enough and Raven and the other jumped to action. It was fast, so fast that Junior almost felt like he would end up with a problem it he blinked. But Raven was fast, and she was strong.

He watched as she stuck to the plan that she'd announced to James and Junior. Raven was almost immediately trying to shift off to the side so that she could avoid any blows.

When Raven finally threw her punches at her opponent, she started with two to the woman's side, which was all that had been needed to make her drop her stance. After that, the woman's head was open, and Raven went for the kill with a single direct hit.

The woman staggered, falling back against the ropes and slumping down into them. Raven dropped her arms down by her sides, watching that woman with cold red eyes in search of anything that said that she was going to need to fight.

The referee was there at the other woman's side though, checking that she was still at the very least alive and counting down from eight. She didn't move- out cold.

Raven had won, and Junior wasn't surprised by that at all.

She was always the strongest, and she had proven it once again. The likelihood that someone would end up going up against her and forfeiting seemed all too likely.

Raven made her way out of the ring and hopped down next to James and Junior before making her way out of the area entirely. She didn't need them there, seeing as there hadn't been a single blow that had struck against her. Raven made a beeline for Taiyang, who she pulled down into a rough kiss.

Junior sighed and looked over at James before making his way over to the table to make sure that Raven's results were locked in. Ideally, she should have been there herself, but Junior knew better than to think that she would actually join them. Raven didn't do anything unless she wanted to.

Everyone at Xiong's knew that.

He and James ended up there for a few minutes, and made off with an updated copy of the bracket that Raven was fighting in before rejoining team Xiong at the table. This time, it seemed like Qrow was taking the chance to sit around with them for a little while. It was a good thing, Junior thought. It was also a very dangerous thing, since they couldn't rely that Qrow wasn't going to end up throwing his normal mind games at Taiyang that he normally would.

"Hey." Junior greeted the group quietly, going up to the cooler so that he could get something out of it for him to enjoy. "Nice work."

"Thanks, Teddy." Raven replied as she leaned back against the wall. She was still breathing hard, and looked a little bit tired, but Junior wasn't too worried. Raven wasn't going to run out of gas over the course of the day. It was Raven that they were talking about. "Thanks for the neck rub."

Junior did silently wish that Raven had said anything else to him, but it couldn't be avoided. "It's really no problem." Junior commented after a moment, knowing that everyone else had already heard what Raven had said.

And of course, when someone spoke up, it would be Taiyang, almost sounding jealous.

"I didn't get a neck rub." Taiyang complained, eyes slightly narrowed. "What's the deal?"

"You'll get one later." James spoke up, his voice hard as ever.

"Are you volunteering?" Taiyang asked, grinning up at James.

To no surprise on Junior's part, James seemed to flush considerably, and it only worsened when Qrow spoke up and threw his own thoughts into the conversation.

"If he is, you better get in line, Tai-Tai."

James took a deep breath and tried to force down the flush that was already stretching down his neck. It wasn't enough. James was still red, and it was most obvious at the tops of his eyes. But he took a moment, adjusting his collar nervously before speaking up again. "It's not an offer." James said, standing military-straight as he always would and trying to stay calm.  

"Oh." Taiyang said, frowning and shrugging after a short moment. "Well then."

James blinked and stood up straight, trying hard to relax down again. "Raven won her match." James said as calmly as he could possibly manage as he walked up to Junior's side and stood side by side with his brother. "And as a result, it means that we have to be getting ready for Taiyang to step back into the ring."

Junior looked between James and the others, realizing that James was taking the lead on this without much hesitation at all. "He's right." Junior spoke up, knowing that it wasn't for the best if he didn't try to take charge at all. The least that he could do was contribute to what James was doing.

James just flashed him a smile and nodded. "The next portion of the day will be spent trying to get Taiyang and Raven for their next fights." He took a deep breath. "It's going to be a long rest of the day, all of you. I hope you will all be prepared for it."

Taiyang grinned widely and nudged Raven with his elbow, leaning in towards her slightly. "Don't you love it when Coach is back with us?"

Raven crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "It's fine."

James sighed heavily and looked back over at Junior now. "Anything you want to say to the kids?"

"No." Junior replied as calmly as he could manage. "I think you've communicated everything that they needed to hear."

James nodded slowly and turned his attention again, this time focusing in on Roman. "Roman?" He spoke calmly. The redhead blinked and nodded.

"What's up, Coach?"

James sighed and looked over at Junior then back to Roman. "We have quite a bit of time before we have these two getting into the ring. I hear you brought food?"

"I did." Roman spoke up, grinning widely. "I'm guessing that you're suggesting a lunch break?"

James seemed to grimace and nodded. "That's it exactly."

Junior smiled, glad that he was getting a great reaction out of James. Roman was smiling too. Junior just shrugged and clapped a hand on James' shoulder. "Lunch sounds great, Jim."

James smiled back at him and nodded. "I'm going to go for a walk for a bit." He said quietly, taking the first step away from Junior. James paused and looked among the rest of the Xiong group, eyes travelling each and every one of them before nodding. "I'll see you soon. Enjoy your meals."

With that, James was gone. Qrow shifted awkwardly and looked over at Raven like he was expecting some sort of permission. She nodded, Qrow said a quiet goodbye, and then he was off after James. Junior seated himself at the table that the group had taken now, glad that he had a little bit less to worry about.

Junior tried to think hard for something to say, watching as Roman began to rifle around in the cooler in search of food for everyone. "You guys are doing great." Junior said, smiling at Raven and Taiyang gently. Despite the fact that he'd had time to relax over the course of the day, it somehow felt like he was finally able to talk to his friends. The fact that the tournament was basically pausing for the sake of people eating helped a lot.

"Thanks, Teddy." Taiyang grinned back at him happily. "You know, I think that things are going pretty well too." He looked at Summer and Roman. "I mean, we've got great company, great food, nobody's tried to fight each other outside of a ring." He shrugged. "I think it's the best that we've done in a long time."

"It is," Junior replied, feeling Roman brush up against his arm and relaxing under the touch. He couldn't help but smile and nudge Roman back as subtly as he could, if only because it was his best chance to show any affection over the course of that day. "Just a few more matches for you two, and then we're going to be heading out."

Roman looked between all of them and smiled. "I know that I talked to Raven about planning dinner for everyone once the day is over."

"Yeah?" Junior tilted his head back and looked up at Roman. "I'm okay with it if everyone thinks that they'll be up to going ahead and doing that."

"I still am." Raven spoke up, shrugging. "I don't think I'll be having any more trouble over the course of the day."

Taiyang shrugged and smiled. "I figure that it's a chance for us to calm down after a long day. Besides, shouldn't we want to hang out anyways?"

"Yeah," Junior said with a quiet sigh. "I'm in, but if James isn't feeling up to it-"

"Teddy." Raven spoke up, drawing everyone's attention over to her instead of letting it linger on the others. "He's fine."

"You don't know-"

" _ He's fine _ ." Raven repeated. "And if it's a pain thing, he's got stuff with him, doesn't he?"

Junior grimaced, knowing that he probably needed to go ahead and give an answer, but not quite feeling like he was able to find something. "Yeah, he does." He said finally. "If you think he's going to be fine-"

"He will be." Raven repeated again, looking over at Tai. "What do you think?"

"I'm with Raven." Taiyang said with a slight shrug. "And if he needs to go home early, we can get him there." He looked away from Junior, and then it was Roman speaking up and cementing things.

"Don't worry about him, Junior." Roman mumbled. "He's okay. We'll take care of each other."

"Okay." Junior finally said, accepting that his friends were right. IT was the best that he could do for them. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to relax with all things considered, but it was the least that he could do and Junior knew that. This was just a natural thing. They were all right about this, he was just a victim to… force of habit seemed like the only good phrase for it.

It was strange, but it was what it was.

“It’ll do my best.” He finally gave a follow-up, sure that it wasn’t going to be enough to truly convince his friends, but to Junior, it was the only thing he could really do.

“Lighten up, Baby Bear.” Roman said quietly as he offered Junior a tupperware container full of something. “We’re all going to go out for dinner later, and it’ll be fun.” He paused, glancing over at Raven, and that was enough to make Junior pause too, if only because he didn’t know what Roman was about to say.

“Raven?” He asked, picking his head up and holding it high. “You think your brother might want to join us?”

“He would.” Raven replied. “Especially if you guys are buying.” She shrugged slightly. “And of course, if Jim is willing.”

Roman shrugged and looked up at Junior. “Probably wouldn’t hurt to make the group a little bit bigger.”

“Wait-” Summer spoke up, all too calmly. “So dinner?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone seemed to relax with the suggestion of food, at least a little bit. It was something that Roman was glad for, and Junior felt the same way as well .Food was always going to be something work looking forward to, and the others were all making him feel a lot better about things just as a general rule.

"Dinner sounds great.' He said finally with a slight shrug. "Do you guys know where you want to go?"

Roman looked between the entire group, thinking hard before speaking up. "Well, the easiest way to do it would be to go out for pizza and hope that there's something on the menu-"

"I know a place that has good salads."  Summer spoke up, blinking and smiling over at her friend. "And sandwiches, even pasta." She looked between the others. "That sound good?"

"Sounds great to me if everyone's interested." Roman said with a shrug. Junior considered it for a second, and quickly came to the conclusion that he was okay with that as long as everyone else was. Of course, he had to think about dinner plans that would be between him and Roman alone sometime, but that was an issue for another time.

"I'm good with it." Junior said finally with a slight shrug. "Sounds like they should have something that James will be interested in too."

Roman smiled brightly and passed his phone over to Summer with a slight shrug. "You have the number for the place?"

"Of course I do." Summer snapped back with a wide smile as she fished out her own phone to get the number. The two of them were too relaxed about the whole thing. Of course, that was what they were there for, Junior thought to himself. They were good at their job, in that case. "I'm sure Tai will..."

"Tai will like it." Raven spoke up, her voice hard. "Trust me on that."

"You sure?" Roman asked, blinking.

"Do they have wings?"

"Yes?"

"Then he'll like it."

Roman blinked twice, seeming completely unsure of how he was supposed to navigate that comment before shrugging. "Sounds good in that case."

Junior smiled softly and found himself relaxing just a bit. He had to go and check on things with James sometime, but this was the time that they'd set aside so that the group could relax for a little bit.

Lunch was big. James was off with Qrow for now, and it seemed like they were going to be able to be fine themselves.

The group did fall into chatter after a while though. They talked about some of the other matches that they'd seen over the course of that day. It was a chance for them to trade information, really. They needed to figure out how they were going to handle the upcoming matches later on in the day. Taiyang was next, and he was seeming confident enough. Raven was sure of herself.

Summer and Roman were having enough fun playing along as their cheerleaders, anyways.

Eventually James returned, with Qrow following closely after him, and they were able to relax for now. After that, the group ate their meals and they began getting ready for what was next to come over the course of the day.


	61. Draw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang has his second round. Junior loses the thread.

Deep down, Junior knew that the worst thing that he could have done was get to be too confident about how the tournament was going. As they day drew on, there was a creeping collective nervousness that was affecting all of Team Xiong. For some, it was easier. For others, it was much, much worse. 

The day would come with momentary reprieves. Someone would get something right and people would relax for a little while.

But of course, nerves were contagious, and that day, they were a constant.

That's how Junior found himself standing outside of Green's Gym with Taiyang, doing his best to talk his friend through things and get him feeling confident again. As it turned out, a lot of the confidence that Taiyang had been showing earlier on had been a facade.

Not that it was all that surprising to Junior.

"It'll be okay." Junior said, keeping his voice down so that he didn't end up telling other people in the area how Taiyang was doing. To most, it looked like a pair of friends that just had wanted to get some air instead of sticking around inside all day.

"Will it?" Taiyang asked, snapping his head up and staring up at Junior. "Because if I don't-"

"Tai." Junior cut his friend off ."We have our bills for the month covered, and we're going to be able to do well, regardless of what happens today."

"But-"

"Don't." Junior said quietly, relaxing just slightly though it wasn't going to be enough. "Trust me about this, Taiyang. We're going to be fine, no matter what happens today."

"So Qrow-"

"Is only something that you have to worry about if you and him  _ both  _ end up winning this round." Junior put some level of emphasis on the 'both,' since he needed for Taiyang to know that he was going to be able to relax a little bit. This wasn't entirely resting on his shoulders. "You're doing great."

"You're sure?"

"Very." Junior said quietly. "Just trust me about this, Tai. I know that you're able to do well, and I know that you're feeling stressed but-" He paused, thinking back to something that had happened years ago when he was going to tournaments with his father. "You know-" He began, keeping his volume low and locking his eyes with Taiyang's. "I used to be the same way."

That seemed to change things significantly. "What?" Taiyang almost whispered the word. "You used to be-"

"Yeah." Junior answered. "I used to get nervous about going to tournaments all the time, because it was like it was all that I could think about on the days that I needed to fight." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall of the gym behind him. "All I could think about was whether or not my parents would be proud of me when I fought " He smiled softly. "And when I had to fight against James on those days, it got even worse."

Taiyang leaned against the wall next to Junior, deciding that eye contact wasn't something that he really wanted to deal with that day. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Junior answered. "Look, I just want for you to know that this isn't all on you. And that what you're feeling is normal." He paused, thinking hard on whether or not there was something else that he wanted to say to his friend about everything that was going on, but nothing quite came to mind. "Don't feel like everything's resting on your shoulders."

"What happens if I don't do well though?" Taiyang asked, staring down at the floor. "I mean," He picked a hand up to run his hand through his hair, fingers carding between blonde locks a little too roughly. "What if I screw up everything, and then Raven and Summer think less of me? Or I never end up being put in consideration for Team Xiong in the future?"

Junior blinked and shrugged, realizing that there weren't a lot of things that he could say to his friend to offer some sort of comfort. This wasn't simple. It was never going to be easy for him to deal with. "I don't think that's going to happen." Junior murmured quietly. "James and I both put our faith in you for a reason, and while Raven may..." He swallowed hard. He had to talk about this delicately if he wanted for things to go well. "Raven may be a little bit more particular about things than most of us are, I don't think that losing a match alone is going to be enough to make her turn you away."

"But what about Summer?"

Junior let out a quiet sigh. He didn't really know that he had a better thing that he could say to his friend. He didn't know Summer anywhere near as well as Roman did. He couldn't even begin to pretend that he knew Summer any more than he actually did. "I think that she seems way too nice for losing a match to end up being the last straw for her about anything. Summer seems pretty calm. Sweet, even."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Junior paused, watching his own feet even though he knew he wasn't going to find anything there. It wasn't going to make him feel any less nervous, and it wasn't going to make Taiyang feel better either. But he felt like this was something that he just needed to do. "As for Team Xiong-"

Junior watched Taiyang out of the corner of his eye, checking that he still had his friend's attention.

"Team Xiong." Taiyang repeated.

"I can say this as the guy in charge of Team Xiong, and with full confidence." Junior smiled over at his friend as softly as he could manage. "As long as you're with the gym, I don't think that we're going to be cutting you. It's not simple, but James and I are  _ both _ confident about you being on the team."

"You mean that?"

"With all my heart."

Taiyang nodded slowly and pushed off from the wall. He took two steps forward and laced his hands together behind his head as he watched forward a little bit more. "So I just have to go in, fight, and..."

"And do your best." Junior said, pushing off of the wall as well, even though he was sure it wasn't going to be enough to comfort his friend. "I know it isn't what you want to hear, but you have to do your best."

Taiyang took a deep breath, then another one soon after. It was obvious that he was just trying to calm himself down instead of just sit there. "Thanks, Junior." He said finally, glancing over at the door to the building. "You think I can take whoever I'm going up against?"

Junior smirked, not sure that he really had a good answer for his friend but finally spoke up. "Yeah, I do." He said with a slight shrug. "You're Taiyang Xiao Long. You're named after a goddamn dragon, Tai. You can do just about anything."

Taiyang's mouth dropped open slightly, like he was seeking something else that he could say to his friend but nothing came to mind and nothing presented itself that was worth adding. It clamped back shut and he picked his head up with a nod. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. "Let's do this." He said finally. "Should we-"

"We need to go in, get you ready, and find James." Junior answered as he began in the direction of the door so that the two of them could go inside. "I'm not too worried, but we have to do our best to get this done."

Taiyang kept close pace with Junior, seeming as confident as ever about things. "Do you think I need to warm up-"

"Yes." Junior replied, almost urgently. He didn't get any closer to the table than they needed to. All that he did was raise a hand so that he could flag James down, and sure enough, James was quick to join him and Taiyang.

"What is it?" James asked, his voice as stern as ever.

"We need to warm him up." Junior replied, gesturing over to the sheepish Taiyang.

James sighed quietly and reached back behind him to grab a bottle of water before beginning to lead the three of them over to the small area that had more or less been set up with preparation and warm ups in mind. When they got there and Qrow wasn't already there and training, Junior was sure to mark it down as a small relief in his mind. It meant that it was one less thing that they were going to end up with Taiyang stressing himself out over.

He was quick to survey the area in search of one of the training pads that was going to end up carrying them through Taiyang's warm up. Junior picked it up, weighing it in his hands before he slid his arm into the brace that was going to keep it attached to him and steadying the pad. While he did this, he could hear the sound of James quietly coaching Taiyang through his stretches, slowly but surely. It also sounded like Taiyang was having some sort of mission dossier read to him, but that was just James giving strategy talks.

In the end, despite the tone, it always ended up being fairly useful for everyone involved in things.

"So," Taiyang spoke up with a quiet half sigh once he was sure that he was ready. "We're going to get to this, right?"

"Of course." Junior replied as he forced on a smile and dropped into a fighting stance, if only because it was a way to brace himself against everything that was to come. "Ready?"

"I was born ready." Taiyang laughed as he dropped into fighting stance as well. The nervousness was gone, but Junior suspected that this too was nothing more than one of Taiyang's facades, orchestrated to hide any fear perfectly.

There was a part of Junior that was glad that he was able to see through Taiyang's facade though. If he wasn't at a point where he'd be able to read the man, then he knew that they would have likely only ended up failing. He swallowed hard, and decided that it was for the best that he didn't get bogged down in his thoughts.

"Alright." Junior said, holding the pad up in front of him in hopes that he'd be able to bring Taiyang in and their training would be able to start. He stood tall, and waited for James' signal. This was how they liked to do their warmups between the three of them.

James stood up tall and just glanced over at Taiyang out of the corner of his eye. "Taiyang." James mumbled quietly. "Don't you dare tire yourself out here."

"Got it, Jim." Taiyang answered. With that James nodded to to the man and Taiyang stepped in so that he'd be able to throw a punch. Junior grit his teeth and kept that pad up in front of him because he didn't want to end up getting hurt. While Junior trusted that Taiyang was more than capable of pulling his punches, that didn't mean that he wanted to risk it.

The first hit that landed was rather expected, as were all of the ones that followed after it. They managed to fall into a rhythm and Junior decided not to move too much. This was just a matter of getting Taiyang loose and warmed up so that there was no risk of injury later on. Once in a while, James would bark something to Taiyang about his performance, but it was simple enough.

"You're going to do well." Junior said, deciding then that the best thing that he could do for his friend is just try to be supportive. "All you have to do is get through this match, and then we're going to be able to get through the rest of the day."

"Thanks." Taiyang answered between thrown punches. "Have you seen my opponent?"

"Looked solid." James said, keeping his voice as level as possible because it was going to be the only way that they weren't going to risk getting Taiyang too stressed out. "But he's slow. Nothing like what you've dealt with before."

"You sure?" Taiyang asked, punctuating the question with a particularly hard punch which knocked Junior back just slightly. He was quick to recover, but that didn't make him feel that much better about everything. "Because-"

"I'm sure." James replied. "Caught him in a match earlier."

"Anything else you want to report?" Junior asked, hoping that he'd be able to get something out of James that would actually help them beyond the speed. "Because-"

James shook his head, stepping in behind Taiyang and placing his hands carefully on the man's shoulders, massaging gently as Taiyang took to sign that it was time for him to stop. "There wasn't anything else."

Taiyang dropped his head and looked down at the the floor in front of him. He was breathing hard and seemed to be doing his best to just relax again. That said, it didn't seem like he was about to end up falling apart at any point. Taiyang was doing well. He wasn't exhausted.

And James was patient with him, pressing his thumbs into the muscles on Taiyang's neck. "Do you think I can do this?" Taiyang mumbled quietly.

"We're both sure." Junior reassured him, deciding to drop the pad down in front of him because he didn't need it anymore. He breathed hard. "Are you?"

"I dunno." Taiyang replied, the obviousness of his flagging confidence more than evident on his voice. "Anything could go wrong."

"That's true." James replied, his voice as even as possible. "Which is why it's up to you to do your best to get through the match and try to win."

"And if I don't?"

"Nobody's holding it against you." James replied, finally pulling his hands away from Taiyang's shoulders and stretching his hands for just a moment. "No matter what, we're proud."

Taiyang let out a too-heavy sigh and turned, putting his hands back behind his head and trying to relax as much as he could. "How long do we have before the match?"

"Thirty minutes." James replied calmly. "You're warmed up enough, and you seem like you'll be able to make it through this without too much trouble. My main advice to you, Tai, is to try and set a pace that your opponent can’t match."

Taiyang nodded slowly, hoping that he was going to be able to make it through the day. Junior swallowed hard, hoping that he'd be able to come up with something that he could do to help Taiyang feel better. Nothing came to mind. All that they could do was keep going.

They were doing exactly what they needed to do.

“C’mon.” Junior said quietly, offering his friend his hand. “You’re warmed up enough. We should report in for your match and once that’s done, we can take a short walk to keep you loose.”

It probably felt like an empty offer, but Taiyang accepted it easily enough. The three of them looked amongst each other, and things seemed to fall to James’ lead as they always did in a de facto manner. James shook his head and sighed heavily before waving his hand so that they’d follow after him.

The three of them went up to the registration table, and James took the lead to get Taiyang checked in and get the time for them to report. Junior listened closely, setting an alarm on his phone and once they were ready, the three of them began the walk away.

Despite the fact that the fight was close, the three of them went outside. They just wanted to take a walk. It wasn’t a particularly interesting walk, and any talk of strategy seemed to have dropped off for the sake of keeping Taiyang calm and collected as opposed to letting him get more stressed out about the match that was coming ahead of them.

The walk was nice though. Taiyang and Junior both took their time, partially because it meant that they were going to be able to keep pace with James that way. It was a courtesy that they’d both learned to use years ago. However, that didn’t make Junior worry less. If James was walking slowly because he was in pain, then he had things to worry about on top of the match.

And so Junior trusted that any pain was being hidden. He gently nudged against his brother and only earned a dirty look as a response. “What?”

“You okay?”

“Fine.” James replied, his voice hard as ever and his brow furrowing in some frustration. “Just nervous.”

“No-”

James shot him another dirty look, and Junior took that as the sign that he needed to back off if he didn't’ want to end up being strangled for it somehow. “There’s nothing wrong.” James repeated, shoving his hands down into his pockets.

Taiyang nudged Junior gently, and Junior couldn’t help but to just sigh heavily and try to relax as much as he was able. That wasn’t going to be easy for him, but he knew that he had to at the very least try to be there for his brother and be relaxed. Junior decided to just return Taiyang’s nudge and swallowed.

“Alright.” Junior said finally, letting out a quiet sigh. “Just a long day, you know?”

“Yeah.” James deadpanned. “I’m aware.” He shook his head and continued walking, not bothering to change his pace. “Just… do me a favor and don’t worry about me. I’ve got things handled.”

Junior swallowed hard. He knew for a fact that the best thing that he could do for James in this situation was to just give the guy space. He knew that he needed to do that, and focus on the fights that were coming up.

That didn't make it easy though.

So he swallowed hard and looked up at James, hopeful that he'd be able to find a way to make things okay as a general rule. "Alright." He finally said, though it came only following a too-heavy sigh.

One thing at a time, he reminded himself. It was already a long day for them, and it wasn't even over yet. Junior needed to keep his head together if he was going to be able to help the others at all.

That was true and irrefutable.

He looked over at Taiyang who shrugged slightly and the three of them ended up going inside together. It was about time that they had to go inside so that they could get Taiyang checked in for the day ahead anyways. Junior didn't want to be the one that got caught up that day in his own head. There was too much going on and he needed to be able to go through it one thing at a time.

But Taiyang walked close to him. The three of them went inside, to see that there was nothing going on of much interest there. It was just people gathered around one of the tables as they tried to get everyone ready. Junior made his way to the front, grabbing onto Taiyang's arm so that the two of them couldn't end up getting split apart for a little while. It was for the better for them if it was just him and Taiyang.

James didn't like crowds, and if he was already feeling uptight, Junior didn't want to exasperate it.

The process was fast, and then Junior was leading the way for them so that they could get Taiyang into the right colors and geared up for the match ahead of him. They found James at the station, checking that Taiyang's gloves were ready and checking that the tape that they were going to need was ready.

"Hey." Junior greeted James, pushing Taiyang forward towards his brother. "He's checked in. We have ten minutes."

"That's enough time." James mumbled as he began to unravel the tape so that he could wrap it around Taiyang's hands. "Tai, hands."

Taiyang grinned widely and offered his right hand first, relaxing as James began to wrap the hand as well as he could to make sure that Taiyang couldn't risk getting hurt. The absolute last thing that any of them needed was to have to bring Taiyang to the hospital with a broken finger or four. James focused in on them so that he could check that Taiyang was ready.

It was a process that took a few minutes before they were making sure that Taiyang was in the right gear and that he was ready. Junior picked up the pad that they'd used earlier so that they could have one last chance at getting Taiyang warmed up. The order was understood without a word even having to be said.

Taiyang threw the first punch, lighter than it had to be. Junior was glad for it, because it held with the same orders that had been passed to Taiyang earlier that day. Not to tire out, and with  Taiyang taking the pace and methods that he was now, there was less of a chance that he'd end up too tired to actually fight.

The minutes ticked down until James' phone went off before the three of them were on their way to the ring. They had a minute to stop by the table, where Taiyang won some good luck kisses from Summer and Raven, and Junior was surprised by a quick one from Roman that wasn't at all necessary.

That was enough to calm his nerves for now, and it seemed like the contact with Raven and Summer had been enough to calm Taiyang even further. They were ready for the match.

Junior, James, and Taiyang made it to the side of the ring. Taiyang climbed up into the ring, and Junior and JAmes set up their small station just outside the ring the same way that they had a few times that day. It was almost like the two of them had managed to fall into a comfortable routine over the course of that day.

It wasn't enough.

Junior did his best to relax and looked over at James.

"Think we're ready?"

"I think so." James mumbled. "We just have to make sure that Taiyang has everything that we could possibly need for him here." He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Taiyang is capable."

Junior nodded slowly, knowing that it probably wasn't going to be quite enough for everything that he needed. It wasn't going to be enough to make him feel better about the match that was right ahead of them. He looked down at the stool that they'd be using and picked up a towel, draping it over the back of it. He followed it up with placing Taiyang's bottle of water by the leg of the chair.

They were ready.

He and James locked eyes, and James just nodded before turning to face the ring, where Taiyang was stepping in towards the center with his hands held out in front of him. Junior took a deep breath, the entire world seeming to slow down as he bumped his hands against his opponents to show that he was ready.

It was showtime, then.

Taiyang moved back to his corner once he was ready, and Junior just waited. He watched as Taiyang took the first few steps in towards his opponent once the bell had rung to signal that it was time to fight.

The first punch was hard, and fast. It was Taiyang throwing everything at his opponent at the beginning, seemingly based solely on what James had told him already. Junior found himself chewing his lip, worried that the match had already been compromised.

But he did his best to keep his head straight because in that moment it was what Junior felt he had to do. This was a match that had to happen, and it was going to be up to Taiyang to carry it as best as he possibly could.

Taiyang’s opponent seemed to be well aware of what Taiyang was doing though. He turned and shifted, making sure not to lose track of the other man and being careful to keep his right hand up as a guard. It didn’t seem like it was quite enough to keep Taiyang’s blows through.

But Taiyang was good at what he did, Junior had to remind himself as he watched the match continue. He didn’t let himself get dissuaded by the blocking, instead shifting his strategy and doing his best to find a new angle to approach the fight from.

Minute by minute, the first round of the match ticked by until a bell finally rang. Junior couldn’t help but to feel frustrated and even nervous with the outcome thus far, but there was also no way that he could go back in time and change how the first round had gone. Taiyang didn't seem to be shaken at all, but he did seem to be at the very least frustrated with the match so far.

"I couldn't-" Taiyang huffed,his cheeks puffing out just slightly before he took the bottle of water that James had decided to offer him and sipping from it. "I couldn't get through to him."

"We noticed." Junior deadpanned, reaching out to check that there was still no damage to Taiyang's face. When he saw none, it was a small relief to him. "What were you thinking?"

"I could outpace him, like you said." Taiyang replied, as calmly as he could. It was obvious that the man's heart was beating hard in his chest, and his breathing was heavy already. Junior couldn't pretend as though that wasn't making him nervous. "I guess it didn't workout." 

"No." James replied with a deadpan tone. "It didn't." 

Taiyang frowned slightly and nodded before speaking up again. "What do you think I should do going forward?"

"You want to know?" James asked, his voice serious and his eyes slightly narrowed out of irritation.

Taiyang grinned widely and nodded, seemingly aware that he was about to get a response from James that probably wasn't as nice as he would have liked. "Yes?"

James nodded slowly and sighed heavily. "You need to do your best to get through to him, but you need to take your time and try and just observe him first. Clearly my advice was wrong-" Junior watched his brother pick up his head and look back over his shoulder to try and figure something out. Like maybe looking over at the other boxer's corner was going to answer a question that James wasn't voicing. "You're good Tai, but you aren't going to get anywhere unless you take it slow."

Taiyang nodded, seeming to understand what James was saying to him. "So just take my time?"

"Yes." James replied, his gaze flicking back to Taiyang. "You can win this, but you only have two rounds to finish it out left." He paused, eyes flicking over to the judges table like there was something there. Junior figured that James was mentally going through his own mock scorecard. "The first round's probably being scored as a tie." The words were mumbled, but they carried all of the weight that they needed to.

"Got it." Taiyang answered, taking another sip of his water and shifting around uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to make himself relax. "Thanks, Jim." 

"Win the match and thank me later." James replied with that deadpan still present in his voice. "You need to go out there and just concentrate."

"I just need to concentrate." Taiyang repeated as he got up to his feet, checking that his gloves were on right. Junior took a step in to check that they were alright before Taiyang was sent back into the ring for another round.

There was a minute or so before they rang the bell, and Junior just sank in next to James before speaking up quietly. "Don't think you were a little harsh?"

"He needed to hear it." James answered, tone schooled and calm. "I think he can do this Junior, it's just-"

"Got it." Junior answered, since he was sure that he'd heard enough. "So we just wait?"

"Yup." James replied calmly.

Junior took a deep breath and nodded. He found himself crossing his arms over his chest awkwardly as he watched Taiyang and his opponent bump gloves before sinking into their fighting stances. Nervousness balled in his chest that he couldn't ignore. And then the match began.

The bell dinged, and then the two of them moved to action. Taiyang raised his hands up to his sides and pressed his elbows in close to him so that he could defend himself instead of attack. That was something that was going to presumably matter a lot, Junior found himself thinking.

But it seemed like Taiyang was taking James' advice seriously. Every time that his opponent would try to deliver a blow against him, Taiyang would block it and try to counter. Only about half of the strikes that he tried to make went through, and that was not good.

It seemed like they were going to have to hope for a decisive third round, or they were going to hope that the judges decided Taiyang was the winner. Junior didn't like the prospect of that, if only because he knew how badly things could go. The least favorable outcome for anything was for them to end up in a  situation where they had to sit through judging.

It was the worst way to have your spirit dashed, Junior knew.

But Taiyang fought, and he fought hard. In the last few seconds of the second round, the man delivered a hard strike to the shoulder of his opponent that was so loud that Junior was sure it could have been heard from across the gym.

He even felt himself wincing slightly at the sound. James didn't seem to react to it.

That wasn't a good thing or a bad thing, Junior thought to himself as the two of them waited.

The round ended, and Taiyang returned to the corner. He didn't seem to notice the way that James and Junior exchanged a knowing look. It seemed like both of them had come to the conclusion that this match was going to go to scorecard at the end. Neither of them were happy about it, but it was what it was.

Taiyang dropped into his seat, and James was sure to immediately be there at the man's side with the water bottle again. Neither said anything at first, because they all seemed to want to give Taiyang a chance to recuperate after the round. Once it was clear that the guy had calmed down again, Junior was quick to speak up.

"Tai," He said, commanding his friend's attention as easily as he could manage. "It's probably going to scorecard."

Taiyang's expression fell, and he nodded slowly. "Got it." He mumbled the word, seeming as nervous about what those words could mean as anyone else did. "What do you suggest we do?"

"You want to know?" James spoke up, commanding both Junior and Taiyang's attention all at once.

"Yeah." Taiyang replied with a slight shrug. "Of course I want to know."

James nodded slowly and sighed. "You need to make this round count."

"James?"

"It seems like he's getting tired." James began to explain, while Taiyang sipped his water again. "What you need to do is hit him with all you have, and try to outpace him."

"But what about-"

"Forget not tiring yourself out too much." James nearly snapped at Taiyang. "You have to do what you have to do if you have any hope of making it to the next round."

That seemed to be everything that Taiyang had wanted to hear.  It wasn't a good situation, but James' words had seemed to be enough to put a fire under Taiyang's ass for the next round. Junior knew that what James had just suggested was probably a bit risky, but he had to just let Taiyang do his thing it seemed.

There was no other option for them, especially if they wanted for Taiyang to win.

The time that they had at the side ticked away though, and soon Taiyang had to get up and make his way up to the ring once more. The nervousness that gripped Junior's chest was undeniable. It felt like it was getting harder and harder to breathe, and there was a distinct feeling like he was being crushed. Junior knew that it was all in his head, but it was still heavy.

No matter what he told himself, he was sure that he wasn't going to be able to relax fully. This was a match, and it was up to Taiyang to be able to win it for Xiong's.

He wasn't the only person that they had in the running, but Junior still wanted for Taiyang to win for them all the same.

But the next round had to start, and Taiyang got up and made his way over to the ring for the final time that match. Junior watched the same pre-fight ritual happen the same way as he had every time, just this time right before it started, James spoke.

"He's going to make it." James said, his voice clear despite the fact that the words had been mumbled out.

"You just telling yourself that?" Junior asked, looking his brother in the eyes.

James didn't answer.

The round began.

When it started, Taiyang was just as ruthless as James had told him to be. He was throwing everything at the other man in the ring that he could possibly muster, and then some. For every strike that was made against him, Taiyang was sure to retaliate in turn. For every block, Taiyang blocked.

The only assurance that it was going well was the fact that Junior could watch the heaving chest of Taiyang's opponent as the match went on and on. They were both in bad shape, and a particularly hard strike had a bruise beginning to form on Taiyang's shoulder.

Junior found himself rubbing his own shoulder in sympathy, but tried not to let his feelings about the match that was going on show too much. Taiyang was strong, but that was the sort of thing that was probably going to end up throwing Taiyang off for the rest of the day.

He glanced over at James, who was looking nervous and frustrated with how things had been going. Junior was sure that they were all going to be able to make it through this, one way or another.

It was just hard.

"Jim?"

"Just trust him." James replied as an answer that gave no real comfort with it. Junior figured that it was about the best that he could have hoped for from James in this fight.

It wasn't much, but it helped.

The final round felt like it took ages to complete, but Junior was sure that was mostly a result of his own anxiety. He rubbed at his chest, hoping that nobody noticed and winced as Taiyang delivered a hard strike into his opponent's ribs that Junior was sure could have cracked bone if Taiyang wasn’t wearing any gloves.

His opponent staggered, but he didn't fall.

Taiyang took the opportunity of the gap that had opened up to step in and deliver two more strikes, to the same area.

He was about to throw a final punch when the bell went off, signaling that the match had ended.

This was it. Things were either going to fall apart now and they were going to end up cheering for Raven for the rest of the day, or Taiyang would be able to advance by some sort of miracle.

Taiyang came over to the corner so that they could patch him up as best as they could, if only because there was time before the winner was announced. Junior was quick to help strip Taiyang out of his gloves, and then Taiyang turned and was making his way up to the ring again.

James and Junior stood by ringside. When Taiyang looked over at them looking for some sort of reassurance, the only thing that either of them were able to offer was a slight nod. It wasn't enough to help the blond man relax.

Nothing was going to be enough, Taiyang knew.

The sound of a voice over the intercom began to read off the scorecard results.

The first round had gone to Taiyang's opponent.

Junior was sure that he'd forgotten how to breathe. He'd partially expected for that to be the outcome of the first round, but that wasn't something that he could say. James nodded, seeming to be feeling just as nervous. But it was clear that he agreed with the judge's decision.

The next announcement came.

The second had been a tie.

Also fair, Junior though to himself in hopes that it would also be enough to make him relax. It wasn't enough. That round had been too slow, and far too indecisive.

Junior didn't know if he would have been able to name a winner for the second round of the match.

But soon enough the final score was about to be announced, and that was it. Junior's breathing became so hard from anxiousness that he had to step in close to James just to feel safe. James didn't comment on it, just watched the ring calmly without ever uttering a word about how things were going.

He was nervous too, Junior knew. It was there in the tightness of James' jaw and the way that he seemed to be unable to relax from the military straight stance that he was standing in.

The third score came in.

The judges had decided that Taiyang had won that match.

All things considered, that set the match as a draw, but Junior also knew fully well that it wasn't just going to be a draw. They had to choose a winner, if only for the purpose of making sure that the tournament was able to continue. Junior took a deep breath to try and make himself relax.

Nothing worked.

For Junior, it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. HE couldn't breathe, and the rush of his own blood filled his ears. He couldn't even make out the sounds of what the announcer was saying.

The first sign that something had gone  _ right  _ to Taiyang was the feeling of James gripping onto him hard with open hands.

Taiyang smiled widely and hopped in the ring.

James was saying something, but Junior couldn't make it out.

Taiyang had won.

It was a miracle, but Taiyang had won.

Taiyang was going to the next around, and Junior didn't even feel like he was capable of comprehending it.

"Junior." James' voice.

He needed to say something, but he couldn't find something that he wanted to say.

"Junior." James repeated his name, more insistent.

“ _ Junior. _ ”

"Yeah?" Junior managed to force the lone syllable out, knowing that it wasn't anywhere near enough. He blinked hard. Once. Twice. Took a deep breath in the hopes that it was going to be enough to calm him.

"C'mon." James said, dropping his volume as he realized what was going on in Junior's head. "The match is over, we have to get out of here."

Junior nodded slowly, understanding but not wanting to comment on what was going on too much. "Okay." He said quietly, nodding. "Okay."

James looked over at Taiyang sympathetically, and the blonde nodded. HE seemed to still be excited by his victory, but worried.

Carefully, Junior was ushered out of the area until he was able to relax just slightly. It wasn't until they were over at the table and Junior was being sat down that he felt like he was able to breathe again. He sat there, staring off into space.

He could hear James talking to someone, and the sound of someone trying to congratulate Taiyang.

Roman stepped in close to him and reached out to place two soft hands on Junior's shoulders before leaning in and whispering some words into his ear.

"Breathe." Roman said quietly. "It's okay."

"Ro-"

"He won, Junior." Roman repeated. "Just try to breathe."

Junior nodded slowly, knowing that it wasn't going to be enough, but hoping that he'd be able to relax. It didn't come easily, but that had to be expected.

Minute by minute, the anxiety began to drip away until Junior almost felt like himself. Finally, he was able to relax again and was actually able to being to take part in the celebrations in Taiyang's name.

Roman didn't leave his side the entire time, and all that Junior could think was that he was beyond grateful for that fact.

Roman was there for him.

Now they had more fights to look forward to, and Junior wasn't sure that he was really looking forward to any of them.

The day had been far too chaotic for his liking over the course of the day. Junior couldn't pretend that it wasn't.

But he could take some solace in the fact that his friends were all there and staying close by him to help him relax.


	62. Knowing Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Junior take a minute to relax

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW ahead. That's your warning.

Roman rubbed circles into Junior's shoulders almost endlessly, hoping that he was going to be able to get the other man to relax, at least a little bit. The two of them had taken their leave from the tournament building following Taiyang's fight. James was inside doing his best to rally the troops for a little while.

Right now, Roman and Junior both needed space away from all of that so that Junior could unwind a little bit. 

There had been some part of Roman that had been expecting for Junior to get anxious at some point. He just hadn’t been expecting for it to come on as fast or as brutally as it had. For that reason, Roman had chosen to pull him aside and out to the car for some space.

Beside him, Junior hadn't relaxed at all. The two of them sat together in the backseat of Junior and James' car, with Junior taking up most of the space. Roman didn't mind it so much, because the chance to get away from the noise was more than welcome. Besides, it was his only chance that he'd had that day to get some quiet with Junior alone.

"Hey." Roman said quietly, trying to see whether or not he'd been able to get through to Junior at all. "How're you feeling?"

"I-" Junior began to try to speak. Roman paused, deciding not to let his hands move anymore because he figured Junior needed the space. "I don't know."

Roman frowned slightly, just out of Junior's view before he began to continue his massaging of Junior's shoulders. "That's alright," He whispered into Junior's ear. "Take your time and just try to relax."

"Roman?"

"It's okay." Roman reiterated. "There's time before the next match, and James and Summer decided to team up to drive the team like cattle." He found a knot in Junior's shoulder and paused there, doing his best to work his fingers into it. "They're going to be fine if you stay out here to relax for a bit."

"Thank you." Junior mumbled, his voice softer and quieter than Roman had ever heard it. It left him worrying, when he realized that this just wasn't how Junior was. Roman figured that it was possible that he'd seen Junior have anxiety attacks in the past, but never like this.

Never anywhere near this bad.

"You're welcome." Roman whispered his reply to his friend. "Just do what you think you need to relax."

Junior leaned back into his seat a little bit more, and Roman had to shift to adjust for it. The shared seat and the position that they'd ended up in had made things awkward, but Roman didn't mind. This wasn't a situation where his personal comfort was the most important thing, and Roman had already accepted  _ that _ long ago.

"So we can just wait here?" Junior mumbled into Roman's shoulder.

"That's right." Roman replied, picking his hand up so that he could lace his fingers through Junior's thick black hair. It was surprisingly soft, Roman realized. He'd been expecting Junior's hair to be wiry, but it wasn't. It also smelled nice, but in an earthy sort of way that mixed with sweat.

It was actually somewhat attractive, despite everything.

Junior hummed, almost sounding content with the situation as he tilted his head back against Roman. The back of his head rested against Roman's shoulder. Roman smiled softly and pet his hair down again, leaning back into the seat and relaxing himself.

"Feeling better yet?" Roman said with a quiet chuckle. "Or are you going to take a nap."

"A nap sounds amazing." Junior replied with a quiet laugh, and just hearing that sound was reassuring enough. "Just need some time to relax."

"I get that." Roman said quietly. "Lucky for us, we don't have anywhere important to be, and if something goes wrong-" He tapped on his pocket absentmindedly. "Someone will call me so that we can take care of it."

"You really are on top of things, huh?"

"Yeah." Roman answered with a shrug and a quiet laugh. "It's what I was going to be here for, you knew that before we even left the gym this morning." Roman let his eyes slip shut and bowed his head, nuzzling into Junior's hair gently and relaxing. He didn't even care what the outcome of this could end up being like.

Roman was glad to have the quiet for the two of them to share, for just a little while.

He almost managed to drift off into his own thoughts when Junior's voice roused him back to being aware of everything that was happening. "Hey Roman?" Junior asked, his voice hushed and sounding entirely calm. "You know that you're pretty great, right?"

"Please, tell me something I don't already know." Roman said, smiling a bit too widely and turning on his charm of Junior's benefit. Maybe that was going to be a good way to help the other man relax, at least for a little while. "Really Junior, of all the things-"

Junior laughed, smiling slightly and reaching up to place one of his hands on top of Roman's. The weight of Junior's touch was more than welcome. "I know!" Junior laughed quietly as he took Roman's hand in his and pulled Roman in just a little bit closer to him. "Trust me, I know."

Roman smiled softly and leaned in, turning and shifting so that he could press a kiss to Junior's lips.

Junior hummed, content. He didn't react much to the kiss at first, but Roman smiled and leaned in again, pressing a second, much softer kiss onto those lips. This time Junior reacted to him, relaxing into the touch and moving his lips against Roman's slowly.

The two of them were able to sit there like that for a while, in the quiet of the backseat of James and Junior's car. Nobody was in the parking lot so the two of them were all but alone for a little while. With every kiss, the next came even easier, and the two men sank further and further into each other's warmth.

Roman could almost feel his heart ready to burst in his chest. It wasn't for any evil reason, but it was because he had Junior there. He had Junior there, and was getting the man to calm inch by uneasy inch. 

A strong arm wrapped around Roman's waist, and Roman didn't do anything to protest it. He let himself sink further down into Junior's touch and rest against his body, if only because it was the best thing that he could do.  

Besides, who was he to refuse a kiss or two?

Roman wasn't one to deny them, that was for sure. The fact that they were being delivered so expertly by Junior of all people did have a great deal of bearing on how Roman felt about everything. Junior was really just about everything that he wanted, and was downright unapologetic about that fact.

Of course, Roman would have preferred it if he hadn't ended up pressed into Junior and actually  _ whining  _ loud enough for the other man to hear. He could almost feel Junior getting ready to pull away from him, but Junior seemed to stop after a moment.

Like there was something that was stopping him from going through with it.

"Junior?" Roman asked, his voice cracking slightly as he arched and angled himself so that he could get a better look at his companion's face. "What is-"

"You sound amazing." Junior muttered, tugging Roman down in close to yet another kiss. "Just amazing." He whispered again, punctuating the statement with yet another kiss that Roman didn't dare try to protest.

He returned the kiss as best as he could, and relished in it when Junior did nothing to stop him. The two of them shifted against each other again, and soon enough Roman was left with an undeniable problem that he couldn't ignore.

He shifted, taking control of the situation and actually hoisting himself up into Junior's lap. It stirred the heat that was building in the pit of his stomach, and Roman was sure that Junior was at least somewhat aware of the tenting at the front of his pants. There was no way that the guy was missing the flush in his cheeks, or the fact that he was breathing heavy.

"Hey." Junior said from below him, his voice cracking hard as he stared up at Roman. "What're-"

"You're perfect." Roman blurted out, shifting and rolling his hips just slightly. "Just perfect."

"Roman?" Junior's hands settled on Roman's hips, and all that Roman could think was that there was absolutely  _ nowhere  _ else that he wanted them.

Well, aside from one place.

"I want you." Roman let the words spill out without much care for the situation or the fact that they were at the tournament, in a car in the parking lot. He didn't care. He just wanted that closeness with Junior, at least for a little while. "I just want you so badly."

"But we're-" Junior spoke up, looking out of the car window before letting out a quiet groan as Roman leaned in to attack his neck.

"I don't care." Roman whispered. "Everyone doesn't care that we're away for a little while, and I just..." He groaned, thinking hard to figure out whether or not there was something that he could propose to alleviate this situation. The fact that he could now feel a growing hardness pressed against his ass added to the urgentness of the situation.

"We could go to my place." Roman whispered quietly. "Just for a little while, or we could-" He swallowed hard, head swiveling around and looking for some sort of out that they could use. All at once, things cued in as he spotted a blanket. "You could just sit there and not worry your pretty little head."

This was a terrible, _ terrible  _ idea, Roman knew.

And yet...

"What the hell are you thinking?" Junior managed to get the words out, despite the fact that he currently looked a little bit like what Roman imagined a concussed and very confused pigeon would look like. Just attractive, and a little bit sexually aroused.

"The blanket." Roman said quietly. "You lean back, act like you're trying to take a nap and well-" He licked his lips, knowing that this was probably  _ much _ more forward than he should have been. "I can take care of the rest."

The seconds ticked by as Junior tried to figure out what was going on. Roman knew that he'd come to understand when his mouth dropped open in a silent "*Oh."* Roman smiled down at Junior, hoping that it would be enough to be understood.

But he wasn't going to go ahead without knowing that Junior was okay with it. "Well?" He whispered, knowing that his voice had gone raspy. "What do you think?"

"I think James will kill us-"

"James doesn't need to know." Roman murmured, leaning forward to drop a kiss to the corner of Junior's lips. "Nobody needs to know, Junior. Just you and me."

"You think we can really get away with this?"

"Yeah," Roman mumbled, kissing Junior again. "I do."

Junior swallowed hard, and Roman was careful to concentrate on his expression the entire time before he leaned in properly so that he could press a kiss to Junior's lips once more. Junior seemed stiff, and so Roman was determined to see whether or not it was possible to get the guy to relax or not.

"It's okay." Roman whispered. "Trust me?"

"I trust you." Junior said quietly. "You promise we don't get in trouble?"

"I do." Roman replied, keeping his voice down and resting one of his hands on Junior's chest. For the first time, he became aware of the muscle under Junior's shirt properly. It was one thing to be able to watch the guy train or fight, but it was something else to be able to feel the muscles under his fingers. But Junior wasn't so hard that it was uncomfortable. It was pleasant, really.

Attractive. Masculine.

Junior nodded slowly, looking up at Roman from behind his eyelashes before he leaned in and pressed one last slow, gentle kiss to Roman's lips. Junior's hand came up to to cup Roman's cheek and pull him in, and Roman decided that it was for the best if he just relaxed into the touch a little bit more. It was enough to help him forget any nerves that were pulsing under his skin.

The kiss lingered for a little while, and then Roman was pulling away and shifting so that he wasn't in Junior's lap anymore. He slipped down into the space beside the other man, slipping down into the space between the seats in the car and between Junior's legs.

Junior figured out what he needed to do and reached over for the blanket that was kept in the back of the car. He began to unfold it, and very carefully draped it over his legs and his lap. It was just enough to keep him comfortable and hidden, and Roman was thankful for it. They moved the blanket together just enough so that Roman would be able to look up at Junior from under it.

Their eyes met, and Roman couldn't help but to just smile up at Junior before reaching forward and gently placing a hand on Junior's crotch, palming it carefully. Junior let out a low hiss, and Roman was sure to file that little sound away in the back of his mind for future reference. Junior looked like he was flushing, and he stared down at Roman.

Roman just smiled and reached up for the button on Junior's pants so that he could unbutton them. It was something that he had to take his time with, if only for Junior's sake. He wasn't going to rush this along.

"Good?" He asked, their eyes meeting.

"Good." Junior managed to get a sound out, with just a whisper being as far as he could go with volume. "Is-"

"Just checking, baby bear." Roman replied as he helped Junior begin to shuffle his clothes down on his hips and a bit out of the way. They moved down easily enough, and then Roman was given a much better idea of what he was actually going to be dealing with while he was there. "Don't want to rush you." Roman leaned in, slipping one of his hands under Junior's shirt and pushing it up just slightly before leaning in to press a kiss to the man's stomach.

Junior groaned, and Roman reached up just a bit more, running his hand over Roman's side a few times before leaning in to kiss Junior's body again. It was a slow thing, travelling from one side to the other and being careful to nip and suck lightly colored marks along Junior's hips. He paused when he was just above the bone of Junior's right hip and smiled up at the other man, their eyes meeting.

Junior looked like he was breathing just a bit harder than he'd been before. Roman grinned, since that was a sign of yet another small victory on his part.

But he wasn't going to waste his time on this sort of thing forever.

Roman slipped his hands down to the waistband of Junior's boxers, hooking his fingers in them. "Yes?"

"Please." Junior mumbled with his voice cracking halfway through.

And god, was it perfect to hear.

There was surprisingly little fumbling and awkwardness when the two of them worked together to slide Junior's clothes out of the way. For Roman, he acted as the guide, while Junior picked his hips up to better accommodate the change.

Roman didn't even bother to get the boxers all the way off of Junior.

Junior's erection sprang free, and Roman did his best not to sit there and just memorize every detail. That wasn't what this was about, nor was it what he wanted to be focusing on. He raised a hand and gently wrapped it around Junior's cock, stroking it slowly as he looked up at his partner.

Junior nodded, and Roman leaned in, stroking Junior's cock one last time before leaning in close to the other man. He opened his mouth and lowered himself to Junior's crotch, starting with a gentle lick.

Roman heard the sound of Junior's pleased hiss. It only served to make him smile slightly as he rested one of his hands down on Junior's hip to keep him in place. Junior didn't protest it, but Roman did feel the gentle weight of the other man's hand settling on top of his. He didn't do anything to protest against it, he didn't dare try to move too far away, for Junior's sake.

Besides, he thought to himself as he licked a stripe up the underside of Junior's cock. Why would he ever want to miss out on Junior's reactions to these things?

Another groan escaped Junior as Roman hollowed his cheeks around Junior's cock. The grip on his hand tightened just slightly, and Roman pulled away so that he could get a good look at Junior.

The guy seemed to be doing okay, he thought as he sat there. Junior's eyes were closed, and his expression almost strained. The sudden lack in contact made them pop back open though, and he peered down at Roman in some confusion. "Roman?"

"Just checking you're okay." Roman said with a slight smile. He shrugged. "Seems like you're fine." His head dipped again, and his mouth opened. Roman focused on the top of Junior's cock, stroking it slowly as he lapped at the head.

It earned another gasp out of Junior, and Roman smiled. He didn't stop, continuing to lap and suck, only rousing slightly when he felt the reight of Junior's hand settling on top of his head.

Mentally he swore, since he was sure that he was going to need to fix that before he could do anything, but for now, it was pleasant. Junior tugged gently at his hair, and Roman gasped in some pleasure of his own.

"Don't stop-" Junior groaned the words out, and that was enough to make Roman get back to reality as he realized that things had changed. It wasn't his intent to stop, it was just that he'd been surprised.

Roman shifted slightly, trying to alleviate some of the pressure that was building in his pants and found that it wasn't enough. He was sure that he probably wasn't going to get a chance to deal with that on his own before Junior went back in.

But that was fine, Roman told himself. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done something like this.

He opened his mouth a bit more, bobbing his head and stroking alongside the motion with one hand as he continued to brace himself against Junior. Once in awhile, he'd feel Junior's hips twitch or attempt to buck up, but he was able to keep it from going any further.

Roman sucked, stroking a little bit more and continuing. Junior let out a sound so quiet that Roman wasn't sure that he would have even realized that it was a moan if not for the circumstances. He sucked and sucked, and the sounds that Junior let out gradually grew louder and louder.

He pressed down on Junior's hip with his open palm once more, and that seemed to be enough. The weight on his head disappeared, and a quick glance up at Junior told Roman that he'd taken the chance to muffle himself before he could get to be any louder.

Roman leaned in again, redoubling and taking Junior in deeper than he had ever before. Junior groaned again, and his hips twitched uselessly under Roman's touch. Junior tapped on Roman's shoulder once or twice, and Roman knew  _ exactly _ what he was doing.

The warning was very nice. 

It only took a few more strokes, and Roman felt the pulse and twitch of Junior's cock heavy on his tongue, followed soon with a rush of liquid. Roman didn't let it leak out, swallowing down what was offered in an act of intimacy that was befitting of a relationship which was much more than what Junior and Roman probably were.

Once he was done, Roman pulled away and took a deep breath, his lips having swollen from the friction. He looked up at Junior, who was still looking like he was muffling himself and panting. The man's hand dropped away to his side, and Roman just shrugged. He climbed up into the seat next to Junior and leaned in to press a kiss to Junior's lips.

Junior turned and leaned into the touch, wrapping an arm around Roman and pulling him in close despite the risks of the situation.

"Hey." Roman nearly croaked the greeting to Junior out. "You doing okay?"

"Wonderful." Junior managed, still sounding like he was doing his best to catch his breath. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Roman replied as he shifted again, once again trying to alleviate some of his own tensions. Junior blinked, seeming to realize what was happening and his mouth opened in understand.

"Roman do-" Junior swallowed. "Do you want me to-"

Roman blinked, not sure whether he had an actual answer to give to Junior. While getting off mutually would have great, he knew that Junior had things and places to be.

"It'd be nice." He whispered, leaning in to kiss Junior again. "But you probably have somewhere to be."

Junior's mouth dropped open, and he looked a little bit jealous before he reached out to rest a hand on Roman's stomach. "It can wait." He mumbled, quietly. "James has it handled, right?"

"Yeah." Roman mumbled, kissing at Junior's neck slowly. "He does."

Junior let out a pleased hum, an arm wrapping around Roman as all of the secrecy and pretended propriety slipped out of him. Because it wasn't something that worried him, Roman just relaxed further into Junior's grip and groaned quietly as he felt one of the man's open hands beginning to slide down his body.

Of course, Roman was well aware of the fact that if something happened to anything other than his face, there wasn't going to be any way for him to cover it up or hide it. But that was something that Roman figured he could deal with, assuming that they were careful and well aware of what they were doing.

"Junior-" Roman mumbled quietly, and Junior understood. The man fumbled with the blanket, and Roman figured that would be enough. They'd have to hope that James didn't end up finding any of the aftermath of their time together, but Roman figured that Junior was going to have laundry to do that night anyways.

"I know." Junior turned slightly, sliding down just slightly enough so that he was closer to Roman and pressing kisses onto Roman's neck. It was heavenly, and roman let his eyes slip shut in an attempt to just immerse himself in every detail of Junior's touch. "I know."

The large hand trailed further and further down Roman's body until it eventually slipped underneath Roman's shirt. Roman didn't pay too much attention to what he figured Junior was able to feel, because it mostly wasn't that important. He felt his back arch slightly so that he could just get a little bit more of Junior's touch, and bit back a noise.

His shirt ended up being pushed up on his stomach so that Junior could run his hands down his sides before one of them finally made it down to Roman's pants. It took no time to get the garment and Roman's underwear out of the way.

And when Junior finally wrapped his hand around Roman's aching cock, it was too much. His mouth dropped open and Roman knew that he let out a keening whine. Not squirming too much was a fight that Roman had to fight, and Junior was all too calm with him.

While Roman squirmed and tried to keep himself quiet by biting down on his lower lip.

Every stroke made heat build in Roman's belly more and more, pleasure coiling through his entire body with every touch, every kiss. He knew that he wasn't going to last that long, but with all things considered, Roman didn't know that he cared so much.

His back arched and Roman buried his face in the crook of Junior's neck. Junior was whispering something into his ear, but Roman couldn't bring himself to concentrate long enough to figure out what he was saying. Junior twisted his hand, and Roman bit down harder on his lip, feeling that coil of pleasure to get to be too much as he finally came.

He slumped against Junior, chest heaving and already feeling like he needed to rest. Nothing was said between them. Junior just pressed a kiss to Roman's temple and cleaned away any mess with the blanket before helping Roman get his pants slid back up and secured.

Roman didn't want to go back in for the tournament anymore. He wanted to rest there with Junior in the back seat of that car, where his hair didn't matter and he was allowed to be himself as much as he wanted in Junior's presence.

Roman knew that was probably wishful thinking, at least to some degree, but he also couldn't bring himself to think of anything else. He didn't want to think about the fact that to anyone that got a look at him once he went inside would probably be able to figure things out. He didn't want to think about the possibility of Summer teasing him, or anything else.

He didn't want to think about separating away from Junior, Roman thought to himself as he fixed his shirt and did his best to relax.

"Well?" Junior asked, sounding a little bit uncertain. "Are you-"

"Wonderful." Roman mumbled, closing his eyes and continuing to rest against Junior. "Perfect."

"Thank you," Junior whispered, pressing one last kiss to Roman's temple. He didn't move either, but Roman figured that had a lot to do with the fact that he was there weighing Junior down. "For everything."

Roman's eyes slipped shut and he placed one open hand on Junior's chest. There were things that he wanted to do and say, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He'd practically just fulfilled a fantasy that he'd been having since he'd first met Junior, and so not wanting to do anything else was a foreign feeling. It was awkward, but not really unwelcome.

"It's no problem." Roman mumbled, not wanting to reach into his pocket and find his phone to check whether they were needed inside just yet. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." Junior repeated, Roman's words, and rested his chin on top of Roman's head, tightening his grip on the smaller of the two of them just slightly. It was pleasant, Roman thought once more, this time relaxing just a little bit more against Junior.

"I want to sleep forever." Roman mumbled quietly. "That and have something to eat."

"Should have something to drink when we go back in." Junior replied, his voice kept quiet more for Roman's purposes than any other. "The sports drinks we have should be good for that."

Roman smiled softly. It was something that he'd gotten used to doing in the past, having that sort of drink after sex, but to hear it suggested by Junior was interesting and almost comforting. He rubbed a gentle circle into Junior's chest, slowly but surely, not looking to do anything other than feel connected. "Yeah," He whispered quietly. "Thank you, Junior."

"You're welcome." Junior whispered back, voice quiet as he picked his clean hand up to brush Roman's hair out of his face like he thought that was going to be enough to make him look presentable. "I love you, Ro."

Roman closed his eyes and nuzzled into Junior's hand very gently. It was too easy to get wrapped up in the other man's heat, and how deeply comfortable he left Roman feeling. And the fact that he just wanted to sit there and relax with Junior left him unwilling to move.

"You know," Roman opened his mouth to whisper. "I think I might love you, Junior."

The car went silent, and Roman felt his heart rate spike in his chest. He didn't dare move, because he didn't want to end up making things get worse, but this was very bad. He didn't feel like he was ever going to be quite okay, especially if he had to either sit there forever hoping that Junior said something, or if he was going to end up getting rejected.

And oh, how being rejected would sting.

But instead of anything else, he felt Junior's arms wrap around him and pull him in lose. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about this too much. Roman didn't want to be hurt.

"I do too." Junior whispered finally, nuzzling into Roman's hair and messing it back up again. "I love you too."

Roman sighed heavily and closed his eyes, resting his head into the crook of Junior's neck in the hopes that it was going to be enough to help him relax, even if it was only slightly. He was still going to have to fix his hair and go back inside at some point, and he was going to have to do something to make sure that he and Junior being missing didn't get read into too much.

He didn't think that Raven would speculate on it too much, but Summer and Taiyang might. As for James... Well, Roman didn't want to think about what the fallout of  _ that  _ would be if James figured out what he and Junior had been up to. He could only assume that it would be absolutely nuclear in scale.

There were too many things going through Roman's mind. There were too many things that he needed to be able to at least try to say to Junior. But ultimately, time wasn't on his side, so Roman had to go for the next best thing.

"We're going to have to talk about this after the tournament, you know that?" Roman said quietly, turning his head to stare up at Junior. "Don't get stressed out about it, but we need to-"

"I know." Junior said, dropping a soft kiss into Roman's hair. "I know."

Roman sighed heavily and shifted in his seat, sitting up properly because they were all going to have to go inside soon. He took a deep breath and looked up into Junior's eyes. The guy looked a lot less like he'd been up to something, and so Roman figured that meant that it was for the best if they went back into the building at different times.

Of course, he could go and get some quick groceries and that would serve as a suitable enough cover for what he was up to.

"You should go in." Roman whispered, closing his eyes and leaning back in against Junior. "Before the others realize that you've been out here for a while."

"You're right." Junior answered with a quiet sigh of his own. "What are you going to do?"

"Me?" Roman asked with a quiet laugh. "I was going to go and see whether or not I could find something for the table as a cover."

Junior nodded slowly, like exactly what had just happened and everything that it could mean was finally starting to register in his mind. Roman grimaced slightly, hoping that it wasn't going to throw him off too much or just end up making Junior anxious again.

"You sure?" Junior asked finally, not sounding convinced at all.

"Yeah." Roman answered quietly. "I'm sure."

Junior nodded slowly, and he finally moved. Roman couldn't help his frown as he climbed out of the car first, followed soon by Junior. The two of them managed to exchange one last kiss goodbye before Junior went back into the gym, and Roman was left alone outside.

He didn't have the time to go dwelling on these things, Roman told himself. He closed his eyes and shook his head before letting out a quiet breath and turning on his heel so that he could make his way back over to his own car.

He climbed into the front seat and stared at himself in the mirror.

Taking a look at himself, it was undeniable that he and Junior had been up to something. All of the warm comfort of cuddling with Junior after the job had been done had slid away already, and Roman didn't want to lose that anymore. He was tired, like he needed a nap, but he also needed to go ahead and find something to do in the meantime.

He began to fix his hair in the mirror, hoping that he'd be able to groom himself back into a presentable state before he finally started the car and made the drive across town to the first available grocery store.

As he drove, he had to focus on just about anything other than what he and Junior had been up to. For instance, he needed to come to a conclusion that was going to be enough to help them at the gym itself. He fully expected that he wasn't going to be there in time for the next fight, but that was fine.

It was better that he went off getting things for the group and doing something instead of going in, being figured out, and having to carry that on his shoulders all day. That wasn't even to mention the fact that Junior would also fall under scrutiny if he tried to talk about it.

Or hide it.

Whichever.

Roman ended up deciding that he was looking for the sports drink that everyone from Xiong's had been consuming over the course of the day. It wasn't ideal by any means, but it was something that he could do to help the others.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but Roman couldn't bring himself to look at it just yet. He had a feeling that it was going to be from Junior. If it was from Junior, it was probably going to end up being some sort of status report.

But if that message was from anyone else at the group, it was going to be speculation, and Roman really didn't want that right then.

About halfway through the drive, Roman ended up turning on the radio in an attempt to drown out his thoughts. It wasn't quite enough, as things from earlier that day continued to ring in his ears. He was never going to be able to forget how Junior sounded when he was being pleasured, or the look that had flit across the man's face.

He was never going to be able to ignore the warmth after the deed was done, or how comfortable he'd been with his face turned into Junior's neck as it had been.

And he was never going to be able to live down the fact that he'd given Junior a blowjob in a parking lot when the guy was supposed to be inside and doing something actually  _ important _ .

There was a fleeting feeling of guilt for that, but Roman tried hard not to feel so bad for it.

It didn't work. It never was going to be enough, Roman was sure of it.

This was just the grave that he'd just managed to dig for himself.

He found a grocery store and parked outside before making the beeline inside and to the section of the store where he was going to find the blue sports drink that everyone liked oh so much. Roman found himself tugging at his hair as he walked, in an all too obvious show of nervousness that he was personally never going to be able to forget about.

But other people didn't know how he was, Roman reminded himself as he stepped into the aisle and began to scan the shelves for the drink of choice of Xiong’s. If they were big enough or important enough, he probably would have been looking for a sponsorship deal of some sort on Junior’s behalf.

But they were nobody, and so Roman just pulled down a six pack of the stuff in hopes that it was going to be enough to distract all the others. Roman paused,  wondering if this was going to be enough.

In the end, he decided to pick up a container of trail mix on the way out for himself before finally driving across town again so that he could get back to Green’s.


	63. Neutrality Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven has her second round. James and Junior get to talk.

After everything that had happened in the car with Roman, Junior had a hard time being anything other than a little exhausted. He’d taken the chance that he could to air the car out (thank goodness for James’ bottle of air freshener he kept in the trunk) and clean himself up as best as he could. 

He hadn’t been quite prepared for the roil of excitement that he would be met with once he went inside of Green’s. 

As it turned out, he'd spent a little bit longer in the car than he should have with Roman, and now it seemed that there were going to be consequences that he needed to pay as a result of that.

Namely, he was going to have to explain what the hell he had been up to when Raven had stepped into the ring for her next match. Which he’d missed the entire first round of. Completely. 

At least the car was clean.

The look that James shot him upon seeing him again could only be described as  _ deadly _ , and so Junior had to do his best to ignore the feeling that was building down in the pit of his stomach that once again left him feeling like he was going to be sick.

The last hour really hadn't been going his way, regardless of what had gone on in the car between him and Roman.

He'd come back in during the middle of the second round of Raven's match, just in time to see Raven land a devastatingly sharp blow into the stomach of the blonde woman that she was fighting. Junior watched the blonde stagger back from where she was standing and take another step back in an attempt to recover from what had just happened to her.

As for Junior, he quickly proved his way through the door and he made his way up to the side of the ring where he was met by James' death glare.

His brother's greeting- a growl of " _ where the hell have you been? _ " had to be expected, Junior supposed.

He couldn't think of any response, so he just shot his brother an apologetic look in the hopes that James would be willing to drop it until later.

And even then, regardless of what he ended up saying, Junior was sure that he was going to have to tell quite a few lies if he was going to get off with this scot free. The others didn't need to know that he had just had Roman's mouth wrapped around his dick. Or anything that had happened out in the car, for that matter. It was a good thing that Roman had gone off to get more supplies.

Junior busied himself, and the second that Raven sat down and saw him, she shot him a glare as well. That wasn't good, Junior told himself as he took a good look at her face.

"Where have you been?"

"Trying to calm down." Junior replied, offering Raven a bottle of water which she took, not looking happy about the answer at all. Again, it was something that Junior figured he should have been expecting.

"Yeah, but why couldn't you-"

"Wasn't calm." Junior snapped back quickly before they could begin to stray even close to what had been happening. "I could barely breathe, it was for the best that I didn't end up stressing everyone else out more."

"Well, you managed to do that anyways." James grumbled as he shifted so that he was almost kneeling in front of Raven. He was just looking for eye contact, probably to check that Raven hadn't taken any hits and wasn't hurt. "That was the second round."

"I saw." Junior replied, hurriedly. "How'd the first go?"

"First and second looked decisive." James answered, keeping his voice calm. "As long as you don't end up falling apart in the last round-" It was obvious enough to Junior that he was no longer the one that his brother was talking to. "Then you'll have won the match, and you'll be going to the finals."

"Finals?" Junior blinked, wracking his mind to figure out whether or not he'd missed something. "But-"

"Women's is a smaller division." Raven deadpanned. "Thought you knew that."

Junior nodded slowly, knowing that his face had turned all but entirely red at some point in this line of questioning. He couldn't help the embarrassment- Junior was even sure that he'd talked to someone about the difference in group sizes earlier in that day.

"Right." Junior mumbled quietly. "Forgot."

"Either way." James said, standing back up and stepping away before peering over Junior's shoulder at the clock. Raven got the message and pulled herself to her feet, turning so that she could climb up into the ring for the final round of her match.

"Win!" Junior called to her as she shouldered past him. He had to fight not to let it look too obvious that he was actually worried about how he'd ruined things in being absent for as long as he had.

Raven didn't respond to him and stepped up to her starting position, readying herself to fight once the bell went off.

Junior just took a half-step back and watched as the final match began.

Raven was moving with a sort of ruthlessness to her that Junior couldn't really say that he'd gotten used to seeing from her. Usually she was pretty level with her strikes, and she thought things through, but it also looked like she'd just become very aware of the fact that he she was going against a hurt and tired opponent.

Maybe she was just looking at this as the best way to take the other woman down so that she could actually win. If there was no reason to let it get drawn out, then Raven wasn't going to let it.

But the surprise came in the fact that Raven wasn't doing much of anything to go for the woman's head.

If anything that was interesting. To Junior, he couldn't help but wonder whether or not this was Raven trying to send a message to whoever she ended up in the ring with during the final round.

Either way, Junior thought to himself, having a member of Xiong's make it into the finals from any of the brackets was a big deal. This was a matter of Raven and Taiyang. They wouldn't necessarily be the only winners that were coming out of that day, but even one making it to the finals was a good show for Xiong’s.

And oh, how Junior was sure that Raven was going to make it at the very least. She was a fantastic fighter. She was confident, and Junior had great confidence in what Raven was capable of. She wasn't going to let it get forgotten either.

Raven Branwen was there, first and foremost, because she wanted to win.

Junior shook himself out of his own head and watched the fight. Raven and her blonde opponent were moving around each other so quickly and so reliably that it didn't seem like there was room for any attack to get through. Every punch thrown was met with a block, until Raven got in close to the woman and threw a barrage of everything that she was capable at her until the match ended.

The last strike that Raven saw land was another particularly hard hit to the woman's bare stomach.

Raven took the first step back away from the center of the ring slowly, following it up with a second staggering step. Junior looked over at James for confirmation that everything was okay, and when he earned a nod from James, the two of them stood up and prepared to see to Raven the second that a winner was announced for the match.

Unlike Taiyang’s last match, it went much easier and much smoother. There was no doubt about whether or not he was going to win. There was no nervous tension. It seemed like Raven had simply managed to outperform her opponent at every turn, and she knew it.

It was a good thing, and Junior was going to take as much pleasure in that as he could if it meant that things were going to go well for them.

The referee stepped into the center of the ring, between Raven and her opponent. There was a momentary pause before the judge’s voice broke through the nervous tension in the room to announce a winner.

Raven had won, by unanimous decision.

Raven was going to the finals.

Junior was ecstatic.

Together, the group made their way back over to the table with Raven looking all too triumphant. To some surprise (though Junior figured it really shouldn't have been all that surprising at all,) Qrow was sitting there at the table, sipping on one of the drinks that had been in the cooler. It seemed like he and Summer had started talking during the match.

Deep down, Junior was sure that Qrow would have much preferred to be able to be there at the ringside for the match, but Raven didn't like having her brother watch her fight. There was some sort of weird superstition between the Branwen twins.

According to Raven, Qrow was her bad luck charm.

Junior wondered whether that was something that only applied to Raven, based on everything that he knew.

"Hey sis." Qrow greeted his sister with a half-toast. "Heard you won."

"I did." Raven replied, dropping into one of the chairs and reaching back so that she could fix her hair and get it back into the ponytail since it had fallen a little bit during the fight. "And I’m heading into the last round too."

Qrow let out a quiet whistle at that. He paused for a moment before speaking up again. "Want me to bail?"

Raven nodded slowly, and Qrow shrugged in understanding.

Junior caught himself glancing over at James out of the corner of his eye as everyone seemed to watch the exchange between the twins. This was one of the few times where they had all of the calmness about them that someone would have wanted to see from any sort of partnership.

To Junior, it was a time that he should have been relaxing.

But it wasn't so easy. Not when James shot him a glare in response the second that he realized that Junior was watching him. Junior tore his eyes away from James, and did his best to ignore the feelings that were boiling up in his chest because it was just for the better that he didn't let them out.

He knew that he needed to do his best to grab Taiyang and get him away from Qrow, but it also seemed like there weren't any mind games at play.

Because of that, Junior let it rest.

James looked over at Junior and nodded, giving the signal that the two of them needed to step away for a moment so that they could have a quick meeting. Junior nodded his response, politely excused himself, and stepped outside of the gym with James.

He was expecting to get snapped at already, and so Junior found himself lagging behind James just a little bit while he walked.

"So." James said, leaning against the outer wall of the gym. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Junior replied, slipping his hands down into his pockets in a rather weak effort to look nonchalant. He was sure that James was already able to see through it, but had decided not to comment on it. "Just needed some time away from the whole..."

"Yeah," James mumbled, rubbing at his neck. "I get that."

Oh, if it wasn't true.

"So," Junior spoke up, deciding that it was for the best that he breach whatever topic was at hand with James before they  talked. "What's going on?"

"Raven's going to the next match." James mumbled. "She was pretty pissed that you were late."

Junior winced visibly, and he knew for a fact that James had noticed it. "Yeah," He whispered. "Can't say that I wasn't expecting that at all.” Junior paused. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"

"In theory." James replied with a shrug of his own. "It's Raven, you get what you get."

"Right." Junior paused, reaching down into his pocket to find his phone so that he could check the time. They needed to figure out how the rest of their schedule was supposed to look, Junior realized. Considering that, he was even willing to bet that was part of the reason that James had pulled him aside.

They needed to have a proper coach's meeting, regardless of what was going on inside.

"We should have an hour or so." James said, drawing Junior's attention over to him again. "Not a lot to talk about beyond that. Tai and Qrow are going to fight and that's..."

Junior swallowed hard. "How do you feel about that one?" He asked, watching his brother closely and hoping that he'd be able to get a read on James.

All of a sudden, the reason for this meeting came to mind.

"I'd like to abstain." James muttered. "I don't... know that I can play coach during this one."

Junior swallowed hard, if only because he knew that there was absolutely  _ no way  _ that James was joking. This was James at his most deadly serious, and the fact that his brother was coming to him looking to abstain from coaching because it was going to be Taiyang against Qrow told Taiyang much, much, more than he had ever managed to get out of James properly.

He couldn't help the nerves and the worries that popped up and worked their way down into his bones. James was a good guy, but he just wanted to keep his friends safe.

But to do that, Junior realized that James needed to be able to keep himself calm for a little while.

"You're sure about this, James?" Junior asked, keeping his voice down and trying to keep himself calm, if only for a little while. "Because if you aren't sure-"

"I'm sure." James mumbled, his voice dropping in volume again and all of the calmness almost seeming to seep out of his town. "I don't want to put myself into the middle of this."

Junior nodded slowly. As much as he wanted to say no and try to get James to stick by the rest of the group for Taiyang's fight, Junior also knew for a fact that he couldn't force that out of James. He closed his eyes and sighed before finally speaking up.

"I'm okay with it." Junior said quietly, keeping himself calm. "I don't know how the others are going to feel about it but..."

"Thank you." James said, shifting almost uncomfortably and doing his best to keep himself calm. "It... means a lot. I know that you don't want me to do this but..."

"I get it," Junior said quietly. "You need it." There was a quiet that settled over the two of them, and there was something undeniable that neither of them wanted to bring up. He closed his eyes and weighed every syllable carefully, afraid of what was going to happen if he brought it up.

But at the same time, he needed to have something on table for the sake of keeping them doing well and safe.

"Can I ask something?" Junior asked, keeping his volume down.

"Yeah," James mumbled. "You can."

"Okay." Junior paused, took a deep breath, and then spoke up. "You like him, don't you?"

James seemed to freeze where he was standing, afraid to go forward and say anything else to his brother. Neither of them looked at each other, but it was fine. Junior didn't think that James was going to open up in that sort of way anyways.

The silence lingered for a  little while until James finally spoke up for himself.

"Yeah," He whispered. "He's an ass but..."

"I get it." Junior replied with a nod. "I'm not judging you for it, you know?"

"I know." James answered him, looking over at the building again and shifting nervously again like he was doing his best to relax again. "You're always there."

"Right." Junior said reaching down for his phone to check the time. The two of them needed to be going back inside, if only for a little while. The others were going to need them, and they needed to take their time to get Taiyang as ready as they could.

No, Junior reminded himself as he gave his brother an almost guilty look.

He had to do all of that. James was abstaining from the match, and it was for the good of the rest of the group.

No matter how many times Junior told himself that, he wasn't sure that he was going to feel better about it. This was for the better for everyone, and it was important that he kept James comfortable and calm for a little while.

Junior went inside and he made his way to the group's table, with James trailing behind him just as quietly. As expected, everyone was already there, and Roman had arrived at some point with more food and supplies in tow. The entire table looked over at him and James and seemed to greet them, and Junior just raised a hand to wave calmly.

The two of them took their seats and Junior leaned back into his chair and looked over at Taiyang.

The guy seemed to be doing just fine as things were in that moment, if only because of the fact that Raven had just won. It was enough that Raven's victory had energized everyone else.

That wasn't going to last, that was something that Junior was absolutely sure of. They were going to have to take some time to make sure that Taiyang was calm, and then after that, they were going to just do whatever they had to keep things going.

Junior was ready for whatever came up. Calming Taiyang down was going to be a job in itself, but that was something that Junior was mostly ready for.

At least, that's what he told himself. If things got really bad, he figured that he would be able to enlist Summer and Roman's help at the very least. Maybe even Raven would be able to help, but Taiyang was also sure that she was probably going to be putting Qrow at a priority over Taiyang.

The time ticked by though, and Junior just did his best to keep things calm and relaxed. James had leaned back into his seat and was taking his time to just talk to the others at the table in hopes of seeing how they were doing. It almost seemed like James had taken the time to talk to Taiyang about what he'd needed at some point, based on the way that Taiyang and him were talking like they were friends and nothing else.

There was no tension, and no hesitation. Coaching didn't even seem to be on James' mind when he was sitting there and talking.

After this round, then James was sure to be back on top of things with everyone else. For now though, they were going to just relax as a group.

"So, Raven," Roman spoke up, smiling charmingly and leaning back in his seat just slightly as he watched his friend. "I hear you won your match."

"Sure did." Raven replied with a devious grin. "One round left, and then I'm going to be seeing whether or not I'm champion material."

"I'm sure you are," Roman said with a wide grin. His mouth stretched across his face, and Junior realized for a moment that he was staring at Roman a little too intensely. It was probably a bit too much, a little too noticeable, but Junior couldn't just  _ forget  _ everything that had happened.

He couldn't forget the way that Roman's hair had felt under his fingers, or the softness of the other man's touch, and Junior was sure that he was even going to be hearing Roman's whines until the day that he died.

Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was a reminder at the very least of everything that James had done.

"So Roman," James spoke up now, his voice teetering along the edge of calm and almost teasing. "Get anything good while you were out?"

"Just more of your weird sports juice that all of you like so much." Roman replied with a slight straightening of his spine and a widening of his smile. "I'm just doing my part to keep things going together, you know that."

"I see." James replied before looking over at Taiyang. "Staying hydrated?"

"Always am." Taiyang replied, hopping up out of his seat and making his way over to the cooler so that he could reach inside of it and find something that he could drink for himself. He pulled the cooler in and found one of the bottles. Junior watched as Taiyang opened it and began to drink deeply from it, like he thought that it was going to be enough to make things better that day.

The tournament was going well, and Junior wasn't going to let himself get wrapped up in his own thoughts again after everything else that had already happened that day. He didn't want to find himself teetering on the edge of another panic attack, especially when he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to find a way to calm himself down as easily as he had earlier in that day.

Taiyang dropped back into his seat and leaned back against the concrete wall behind him, smiling widely as he set his bottle down on the table in front of him.

"So today's been going pretty great, huh?" Taiyang spoke up, looking over at Raven and smiling at his girlfriend. "Because we've been doing pretty well, and now you're going to win a championship and I-"

"You have to fight Qrow." Raven replied, her voice a little too even. "You need to be ready for that."

"I mean..." Taiyang paused and stared down at the table in front of him. His eyes focused on a singular spot and never pulled away from it. Junior already felt some of his nervousness coming up in his chest, if only because he was so afraid of what was going to end up happening if things went poorly. Now was the part where Taiyang was going to end up getting thrown off completely.

This was worrying.

He didn't want to see Taiyang falling apart anymore.

"Tai?" Raven spoke up again, still keeping her voice even. "You know that you're fine, right?"

"I dunno!" Taiyang exclaimed, leaning back in his seat and even looking a little bit more than just frustrated by the situation at hand. "It's Qrow, the guy can mess me up at any corner."

"He's been good today though." Raven replied with a grin. "The guy's been legitimately supportive to everyone, even in situations where it didn't matter all that much."

Taiyang paused, and Junior couldn't help the feeling that he needed to reach over and wrap his arms around Taiyang and make him feel better about the situation at hand. He wanted to make sure that his friend was happy, regardless of the situation.

Junior just wanted all of his friends to be fine. That's all that he wanted, and that's all that he ever wanted. He was going to find a way to make things better at some point. But for now, he didn't know that he was going to be able to make it any better.

"You're right." Taiyang answered finally, his voice all too quiet and him not looking all that calm.

Surprisingly, James was the one to speak up next.

"No matter what happens in this match, nothing will change." James said calmly, putting on his coach voice despite the fact that he wasn't going to be acting as a coach in this next match. "We're proud of you no matter what, and we're going to be here to support you no matter what goes on."

Taiyang blinked and nodded slowly, looking up at James with sad blue eyes. "You mean it?"

"I do." James replied calmly as ever. "Junior would say the same thing, so would anyone else at this table. We all want to see you succeed, but nothing is going to be enough to make things get worse."

Taiyang let out a quiet sigh and looked down at the table again. Junior decided that it was for the best now if he got up and did something to offer his friend some comfort and make him feel a little bit better. He took the first two steps over towards Taiyang and sighed as he opened his arms so that if he wanted to, Junior would be able to offer him some comfort.

Taiyang didn't say anything to Junior. He just got up and turned his way into Junior's arms. Junior hugged his friend close, and squeezed Taiyang gently, just in case he ended up making things get worse. If the guy was hurt at all, Junior didn't want to make things get worse.

"You're going to be fine," JUnior said quietly and looked down at his friend. "Trust me on that, Taiyang. We're here for you, and we want for you to be happy."

"But-"

Junior took a half-step back as Taiyang began to pull away from him. He reached out and placed his hands on both of Taiyang's shoulders, once again doing his best to offer any sort of comfort to his friend. "We're here for you, Tai. Win or lose, we're here for you."

Taiyang squeezed his eyes closed and nodded, not looking comfortable over everything that had just been said. But at the same time, he seemed to be relaxing just slightly.

"You mean it?"

"Every word." Taiyang replied, glancing back over at his friend for a moment. "I mean it."

Taiyang nodded slowly and let out a deep breath as he accepted that what he was being told was the absolute truth.

Junior didn't try to fight or say anything else. For now, he wanted to be able to let the others relax and try to get their things together.

Soon, it was going to be Taiyang and Qrow in the ring together, and Junior needed to be on his A game when that happened.

He didn't think that he was ever actually going to be able to feel like he was ready for that. 


	64. Qrow vs Taiyang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The match they've been preparing for.

Taiyang and Qrow faced across from each other in the ring. They were both ready to fight, both looking for blood, and both of them had their hands dropped down at their sides as they prepared for what was coming next.

Neither of them said a word to each other, and Junior stood at the edge of the ring alone, waiting and watching the two of them.

When he watched his two friends finally throwing the first punches at each other, Junior was sure that the entire world had stopped and his heart had stopped.

It was too much, finally watching this match play out. There was so much anger, there was so much passion invested in the fight, built up over a course of months. Every punch seemed like it was packed with nothing more than pure, raw, emotion, and Junior really didn't want to be reading into that.

All that he knew was that this had been a long time coming, and now that they were finally there, he didn’t quite know what to do other than make sure Taiyang didn’t get himself killed. Not having James there to help didn’t make it any easier.

From where he was standing, Junior heard Taiyang let out a growl as he threw a punch at Qrow's chest. Qrow didn't let it through, bringing his hands up in front of him to block the blow before it could even begin to go through. Taiyang growled again, throwing yet another punch and side-stepping in an attempt to dodge Qrow's retaliatory punch.

Qrow shifted just the same way, and threw another punch at Taiyang, forcing the blonde into the defensive. Junior took a deep breath and found himself raising a closed fist to his mouth in an attempt to keep himself quiet. He didn't want end up giving Taiyang any verbal distractions.

The fact that the rest of the group from the gym were also there at the side of the ring watching made it even worse. There was no avoiding the fact that James and Raven were standing together as quietly as possible and seemingly mumbling words to each other.

Junior was fairly certain that no matter how the match ended, James and Raven would end up happy. That was the one good thing about the way that things were for them. No matter what, everyone was probably going to be happy with the outcome.

The only difference was that the stakes were different for some.

Junior tore his eyes away from the others though. He ignored the way that Summer was tucking herself in against Raven's side, and the way that Roman was sliding in beside James to say something of his own, probably barely over a whisper in volume.

Not that Junior would know that for sure.

In the ring, Taiyang moved again.

Punch. Dodge. Take a hit. Retaliate. Punch. Land a hit. Shift position.

Both Qrow and Taiyang weren't looking to be in the best shape possible. Neither of them wanted to be dealing with the consequences of what could go wrong if they tired out, Junior was sure of it.

But it also looked like they had both decided that they didn't care too much about that. This was about something else, this match was deeply personal and as far as Junior was concerned, it showed.

There was bad blood, and this was the first real chance to sort it out without causing any real problems between Qrow and Taiyang.

They all understood how it was. What happened in the ring stayed in the ring, and so Junior didn't worry at all about what would come after.

This was, if anything, going to be keeping them from getting into any extra trouble in the long run.

Taiyang landed a particularly hard punch to Qrow's jaw just as the round was ending. Qrow didn't stagger, just took his step back and shook his head as though there was something wrong.

Junior's gaze flicked over to Qrow to see what his brother was doing, and saw nothing.

He had close to a minute to make sure that everything in regards to Taiyang was sorted out.

No room for distractions.

Taiyang dropped into the stool at the edge of the ring and Junior climbed up into the space so that he could go through the procedures necessary to check that Taiyang was in one piece.

That meant reaching for his head and tilting his face so that he could get a good look into Tai's face first.

The first good thing that Taiyang noted was that Taiyang's eyes were clear, even if it did look like his left eye was about to swell into a black eye in an hour or so. It was going to have to be something that was going to be taken care of later on in the day. Unless there was blood, it didn't demand immediate attention. If there was blood, then the care given would have to be the bare minimum if there was no sign of concussion.

That was something that Junior had learned years ago.

"Feeling good?" Junior asked, keeping his voice even as he pulled his hands away from Taiyang's face. He pulled out a bottle of water and uncapped it before offering it to his friend. Taiyang drank deeply from it, not seeming all that calm or ready, but Junior had to take it for what it was.

He had to trust that Taiyang was capable of winning this fight.

The blonde dropped the bottle back away from his mouth and looked back up at Junior with those bright blue eyes of his. "Yeah, I'm good." He replied calmly. "Don't worry about it."

"Too late." Junior answered as calmly as he could manage for himself. "You two are going at this a little more ruthlessly than I expected."

"Yeah, well-" Taiyang paused. "Kicking his ass feels a little too good."

"It won't matter if there's no gas left in you after this match, Tai." Junior said, his eyes flicking up at to the clock to check that he still had time. "Just try not to get hit too hard, and try not to get tired."

"That it?"

"Yeah, it is." Junior mumbled, stepping away and capping the bottle of water once more. "Get back in there."

Taiyang nodded and got up, bouncing from foot to foot for just a moment as he tried to keep himself ready and able to go forward in the fight. Junior watched him, and the way that Qrow just sauntered into the ring calmly was worrying.

It told him that they were going to have some things to worry about, since now Qrow was working his way back into Tai's head.

Qrow and his eyes met for just a second, and Junior just about felt his stomach flip. He wasn't sure why it was enough to unnerve him, but Junior couldn't help to worry.

Taiyang and Qrow approached each other in the center of the ring and took their chances to reach out for each other. They bumped their sets of gloves together, showing some sportsmanship before sinking into their starting positions.

Junior could have sworn that he'd heard Qrow and Taiyang exchange a few words, but he wasn't able to make it out over the sound of his own heartbeat and nervousness building up. It shouldn't have been so hard for him to process it, since he was sure that this was just a matter of more trash talk being thrown around.

The two separated away from each other, as was expected, and Junior kept on watching in hopes that he'd be able to figure things out from where they were.

The bell rang and announced yet another start to the world itself. Junior tried not to think about the way that Taiyang and Qrow seemed to be landing hits in time with his heartbeat. There was too much rhythm between the two.

It felt a little bit like he was actually watching Taiyang and Qrow dance as they moved, but that couldn't have been it.

It couldn't have been anything near enough to make Junior comprehend this match as anything otherwise.

It was intense, it was strong. It was what a fight was supposed to look like.

And Taiyang and Qrow weren't allowing themselves to hold back at any point whatsoever.

The round was off to a poor start, Junior had realized. Taiyang was mostly on the defensive, and it was the first time that Qrow had really begun to use his speed to his advantage in this fight. If there had been any playfulness in this match, it was gone now.

Now, both Taiyang and Qrow were in to win, and Junior legitimately didn't know who was going to end up on top at the end of the fight.

In a way, he supposed that it didn't matter all that much. Raven's advancement gave Taiyang leniency. Qrow's apparent desire to come to Xiong's once things were cleaned up also gave Taiyang leniency, though it wasn't as much as Raven's standings.

Taiyang could prove himself.

He just had to do it.

But to do that, he had to be able to keep a level head and not let himself get wrapped up in whatever sorts of games Qrow was trying to drag him down in.

It hadn't taken long at all for Junior to realize that those games were still at play. The only difference was that now there was action to back them up. They were quieter, they were more subtle. They were things like the way that Qrow would carry himself when he stepped into the ring, or the cocky sorts of stretches he did before he got ready to fight.

And Taiyang seemed to be falling for it.

Even now, as Junior watched Taiyang block hit after hit from Qrow, it was all that he could think about. Soon this round was going to have to come to an end, and then there was going to have to be a moment where the two fighters could give each other a good look and further worm their ways into each other's heads.

But Junior had to shake himself from those thoughts and focus on the task at hand.

In the ring, Taiyang's anger and frustration was reading clear on his face. His eyes were sharp and narrowed, his hits were getting harder and harder for every strike that Qrow landed. His movements were getting to be more and more imprecise.

It was _bad_.

But he was blocking well, and if anything, this was a testament to the fact that Taiyang was actually capable of keeping up with Qrow pretty well in the ring. It was proving a lot of the suspicions and discussions that he and James had in the past. Taiyang was a champion level fighter, even if he was small-time compared to others. He had the potential to win.

But he was getting angry, and that was going to drag him down.

However, that wasn't all bad. The ferocity in his hits had Qrow slowing down, even if it was just slight. If anything, it was schooling Qrow into a more defensive style, which wasn't a bad thing at all.

The two fighters had separated from each other, neither wanting to get too close to the other for fear of having a hit landed on them once they did. From where he was standing, Junior could see that Taiyang and Qrow were both breathing heavily.

He wouldn't have been surprised at all if the two of them both ended up completely dropping once this match was over due to nothing more than sheer exhaustion.

The pair got close to each other. Qrow jabbed, Taiyang sidestepped and retaliated, only to be met with a similar response to his own from Qrow. This continued several times until the round ended and Qrow and Taiyang were retreating to their corners.

Junior stepped out of the way as Taiyang nearly collapsed down into the chair that they'd gotten for him. His blonde hair was mussed and sticking to his forehead in ways that Junior had to assume were at the very least uncomfortable. Taiyang's skin had begun to flush a bright red, and he looked like he was going to need a nap sooner than later.

But Junior didn't let himself think about that. Taiyang could nap later on, when things were okay and there was nothing to worry about. He was going to have time between this round and the next to rest anyways, even if all of the excitement of the day itself was probably making that rather difficult to achieve.

"How are you feeling?"

"I want to die." Taiyang muttered as he grabbed for the bottle of water and brought it to his lips. "He's not holding back." He muttered once he'd pulled the drink away from his lips and looked up at Junior properly now.

"We expected that, remember?" Junior asked, not letting himself get caught up in his own thoughts even still. What was important was keeping Taiyang going, no matter what the costs were. That was what his place was, and Junior was going to be damned if he forgot it. "You're doing well." He mumbled, leaning in slightly so that he could finally get a good look at Taiyang's eye.

It looked like his left eyebrow was about to split, but there was no blood beginning to emerge, so Junior had no choice but to let it be for now. It wasn't worth it to do a treatment if they were only going to end up hurting Taiyang's performance over if they didn't do it.

There was nothing immediate, after all.

"Am I?"

"Yes." Junior replied almost curtly. "Ready for the next round?"

"No."

Junior took a deep breath. He couldn’t pretend as though that was an answer that he hadn’t been expecting to hear from Taiyang. In fact, it was exactly what he’d been preparing himself for. To expect that Taiyang was going to be ready for anything when he was already acting like he was so keyed up was most likely just incorrect.

But he needed to be able to take Taiyang and let him out into the ring for his next fight, regardless of how the guy was feeling. That was just a harsh reality of the situation, and Junior couldn’t get around it.

They were at a point where feelings really didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Now, all that mattered was performance. There could be proper catharsis later.

“I’m sorry.” Junior said, not entirely sure for what reason he was apologizing as he took the first few steps away from Taiyang to give him space. This was just how things had to be- Junior knew that.

And he hoped that Taiyang wouldn’t resent him for sending him back into the ring when the guy wasn’t quite ready yet.

But Taiyang was smart enough. He pulled himself up to his feet without too much protest and Junior paused to just pat his shoulder before sending Taiyang into the ring for the final round of his match against Qrow. Taiyang lingered beside him, accepting the contact, before he finally moved on and went up to the ring so that he could go and fight.

While that happened, and Qrow walked into the ring looking a little bit worse for the wear himself, Taiyang did his best to ignore the churning in his stomach that told him that he wasn't doing so well. Junior almost found himself slipping into a deeply uncomfortable silent prayer as he waited for things to move on and for the fight to continue.

This was it.

Either Taiyang was going to win the match, or Qrow was going to win the match. Junior didn't know which it would be, since the match had seemed shockingly even so far. Qrow and Taiyang had spent months preparing to go against each other specifically, and it definitely showed.

In a better world, the two of them would have been meeting in the final round of the tournament, going in to try and win a trophy for their home gyms. Maybe someday they were going to end up in a situation where they weren't going to have to worry about who won the match beyond who the winner was.

In theory, it was possible that they were going to end up in a situation where Qrow and Taiyang both were representing Xiong's.

The two men stood in the middle of the ring. It sounded like the two of them were talking to each other, but Junior couldn't make out what it was over everything else that was going on that day. Taiyang and Qrow both seemed to break into a smile, and a moment later the two of them stepped away from the center of the ring, having bumped their fists together to show that they were ready.

This was it.

It was happening.

The winner of this round of the match was probably going to be the one that went into the final round, and based on the looks on everyone's faces as they stood their and prepared themselves for everything that was coming up. There was an obvious sort of nervousness that was around the entire ring. It was written clear across everyone's faces.

They all knew.

And based on how loud the first punch that landed was, Taiyang and Qrow were both equally aware of that fact themselves.

The hit had been from Qrow to Taiyang, so hard that it was going to bruise and that Junior was sure that if it wasn't for the fact that the two men were wearing gloves, Qrow's knuckles probably would have split in protest of the viciousness of the attack. It was the sort of hit that Taiyang was sure to be feeling a week down the line, and possibly even further depending on how fast it healed.

The punch that Taiyang threw as retaliation was a little bit too hard, and a little more than just a bit reckless. It was impossible to ignore how bad it looked. It was like it had been built up out of pure nervousness and frustration on Taiyang's part. He was beginning to lose his head, but that was something that Junior could really say that he was too surprised by.

This was predictable.

But Taiyang's attack was too sloppy and it ended up missing as Qrow sidestepped and dodged out of the way. He took the opening that Taiyang's punch had made to give a too-hard jab at Taiyang's ribs, which definitely connected.

Taiyang staggered back after a moment trying his best to keep himself calm as he put space between the two of them. Junior halfway expected that Taiyang was going to be coming out of the ring with a broken rib, and it if wasn't broken, it was going to be bruised at the very least. It was how hard they could be.

Junior was deeply worried.

The separation between Taiyang and Qrow didn't last all that long before the two men were stepping back into range of each other. Taiyang was holding himself defensively, keeping his elbows caged in close towards his sides so that he didn't have too much to worry about. It was obvious that he was in pain though, and Junior couldn't help his worry as he watched his friend move. What happened if Taiyang came out of the ring, ended up winning, and then had to drop out of the tournament because of injury?

The possibility of injury was always there, but there was no way to get around it or avoid it all. Things could go poorly at any turn, but this wasn't what he'd been preparing for. He'd been preparing to have to super glue Taiyang's brow back together or something.

Qrow got in close to Taiyang. He threw his first punch in the other man's direction, but it was soft. To Junior it was obvious enough that it wasn't an attempt at a strike, but it was instead an attempt to go ahead and judge the distance that existed between Qrow and the two men.

It didn't land, and Qrow fell back just slightly in an obviously defensive position. It was the only thing that he could manage.

Taiyang didn't throw an answering punch. He shifted and turned around Qrow until he was close in range. Of course, Qrow was doing his best to turn and stay facing Qrow directly. He was as afraid of what could go wrong as anyone else was. That much was obvious.

It was a dance- one that wasn't going to end until one of the two partners fell or grew so exhausted that they couldn't keep going further and further on. Unlike a proper dance, there was no sort of coordination between Taiyang and Qrow. The entire thing was purely reactionary between the two men, and that was a very good thing.

Although, it was a threat on at least some level.

Taiyang stepped in close to Qrow again, throwing another punch at the thin man's stomach. The hit connected, too hard for anyone's liking. If Junior was actually counting them, he was sure that made for at least three broken ribs over the course of the match.

Qrow took a half-step back and brought his arms up so that he could go ahead and protect himself against Taiyang's attacks. It was a good thing, Junior thought to himself. Taiyang had Qrow moving to a more defensive strategy. In theory, that meant that it was Tai’s chance to get Qrow into a position that was wholly unfavorable to him. If he could get Qrow on the ropes, then he could win.

But there was still risk involved. No matter what, there was the too-strong possibility that Qrow going defensive meant that Taiyang would never be able to make another kit connect over the course of the match. If that were to happen, then he would probably lose for sure. To be truly successful in the ring, Taiyang needed to be able to make his hits connect, and they had to connect in the right way. They needed to be direct and hard, and they needed to be able to make some sort of impact on the fight itself.

As the battle wore on, Junior found himself getting to be less and less confident about how things were going.

Taiyang jabbed at Qrow, aiming high with his punch and even stepping into it. He seemed to make enough of an impact that the entire room had gone nearly silent over the sound.

Qrow staggered, almost like his thin legs were falling out from under him.

He stood there, wavering for a moment before stumbling back into the ropes, hanging onto them for support. Junior practically felt his heart stop at the realization of what had happened.

Taiyang had just delivered a strike to Qrow's head and it had been enough to knock him back.

And apparently it had been just good enough.


	65. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team prepares for what's next to come: Hazel Rainart

The Xiong’s and Green’s crew had been quick to act. Once the realization had come that Qrow was in bad shape, he'd been dragged off to a table at the side and he was being taken care of. The members of Green’s that had been there left soon enough, once they saw that Qrow was in his sister’s care.

Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any bad blood between Qrow and Taiyang over the way the match had ended. The Xiong's crew was elated to know that Taiyang was going to the next round of the tournament, but worry won out over elation.

Roman had ended up coming to the front of the group in an attempt to make sure that Qrow was not only well looked after, but he was also well taken care of. He was feeling just as worried as everyone else was, and he was glad to be able to help the others.

"So one more match for you, right?" Qrow asked, sitting up halfway and rubbing at his brow like he thought that it was going to be enough to alleviate any ringing in his head. He'd been checked over a few times for concussions, but nothing seemed to be turning up. Qrow was just rattled. And tired. Very, very tired. 

"That's right." Raven confirmed, sitting at her brother's side and watching him carefully. Despite everything, it seemed that she was the most worried about Qrow's situation of all. But Roman figured that had to be expected, at least on some level.

"You're gonna win for me, Rae." Qrow said quietly, leaning back into his seat and letting his eyes slip shut. "Don't let all the Branwens be losers."

Raven rolled her bright red eyes. "You know that's not going to happen, you’re just unlucky." She retorted. Her eyes slid over to Taiyang, and so did Qrow's. The stare that the both of them shot him was only a little too intense. 

"Yes?" Taiyang asked, shrugging slightly and smiling. "What is-"

"You better kick whoever's ass it is that you go against next." Qrow growled at the man. "It's up to you, Tai. You've gotta do it for me."

"You think so?" Taiyang asked, smiling slightly. "What if I don't?"

"Then our next fight's a grudge-" Qrow shifted, getting cut off by James' appearance with a small cup of what was probably aspirin and some water. Qrow took it graciously, and Roman was sure that he'd seen the man's touch linger on James' for a little too long.

Nobody would dare comment on it, since nobody wanted to know what would happen if they were the one to do so.

"A grudge match?" Taiyang spoke up, keeping his voice even. "What makes you think you can even-"

"It was a lucky hit." Qrow retorted, cutting Taiyang off. "It won't happen again Tai-Tai." He grinned a little too widely and a little too mischievously. "I wouldn't get too comfortable with it."

"It was a good match." James confirmed quietly as he took his seat. Roman watched him, not really sure what he was looking for but realizing quickly that James was putting just enough space between the two of them to be able to deflect any suspicions. "But Qrow is right," James explained, leaning back in his seat and making himself comfortable. "You shouldn't get too cocky. Like it or not, you’re going against whoever the best person in your division is."

"Yeah, well." Taiyang shrugged and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't even know how long it's going to be before I get to go back into the ring again. And what’s with the whole not being the best thing?"

"By my guess-" Junior spoke now. The entire group looked over at him, and Roman did his best to follow along with the situation as he gathered some ice together in a cloth that he could pass off to Qrow once he was ready for it. "You'll have about an hour." Junior explained himself. "I'm guessing that we're going to have to see what happens with the Women's division before we get to find out what's next for you. And you’ll do fine."

"Yeah?" Taiyang asked with a shrug. "That sucks."

"It's necessary." James spoke up, his voice still as even as possible and his relaxation almost becoming evident. "You know that we can't risk anything getting in the way for either of you"

Roman decided now that it was time for him to speak up, as he passed the cloth over to Qrow so that the red eyed man could press it to his brow and stop any potential bruising before it could appear.

"I think that you guys have been doing well." Roman said, deciding to speak calmly and keep his head up high. "But Junior and James are right. You don't have all day to do this, and that shouldn't be forgotten about. You need to stay on top of your games." His eyes flit between Raven and Taiyang both, since this wasn't a conversation that he was really needing to have with only one of them. "The schedule is the way that it is for a reason. Take your downtime any way that you can, and then once this is all over-"

"Dinner." Junior cut him off, his voice sounding just a little bit too calm and even loving for Roman's liking in that moment. He was smiling gently over at Roman, and it was a bitter reminder that he and Junior still had a date when this was all over and done with.

Soon, Roman reminded himself. That was an issue for another day, but it was going to be one that he was going to have to deal with soon. "Right." Roman said, doing his best to keep any affection from seeping into his voice with his confirmation. "We're going to go out for dinner and Qrow-"

Qrow picked his head up, his eyes looking mostly clear. "Yeah?"

"You can come along if you want." Roman glanced over at Junior and James, asking them both silently for a confirmation that it was okay. Of course, the question was less directed at Junior than it was at James, but the brothers were smart. They both knew how to play along with things.

"Of course." James spoke up, smiling just a little bit himself. "We'd be glad to have you."

Roman couldn't wonder how deep the double meanings might have gone with James and Qrow, but he also knew better than to speculate too much on it. It was polite not to speculate.

"Thanks," Qrow said after a moment, looking over at Roman. "I think I'll come along if you guys want to have me."

"Sounds good." Roman answered with a slight sigh. "But either way, you guys are going to have to get ready for the matches that are coming up ahead-"

"And you can't be getting too comfortable." Junior spoke up before Roman could finish. It was exactly what had needed to be said. "This is not a joke. You guys are doing well and you've done well all day, but you can't be getting too comfortable with things."

"Junior is correct," James mumbled, sipping from his own bottle of water and leaning back into his seat a little bit further. Roman thought that he saw James gently reach over to brush his fingers against Qrow's, but said nothing. It was subtle enough that he was sure that nobody else would have noticed it. "There's no good in becoming complacent just because you've beaten your biggest perceived threat."

James paused for just a moment before deciding to continue. "Whatever you have to face next will be a much more serious venture and that can't be forgotten. The last rounds are the last rounds for a reason. For a lot of them-" James paused, glancing over at Qrow. "You going this far is a fluke, Taiyang."

Taiyang's expression began to sink, and the feeling that this was very bad was one that settled securely in the center of Roman's chest. How were they supposed to be able to keep going when James had gone ahead and torpedoed it in an instance?

But James didn't stop. He decided to keep talking, and Roman couldn't really figure out whether or not that was for better or for worse.

"This can be a good thing." James announced all too calmly. "If they're thinking that you getting this far is a fluke-" He looked over at Junior like he was looking for some sort of approval to be able to keep going. "-Then it means that you're going to be able to go into the last rounds as an unknown factor."

Those words seemed to be more than enough to change the entire demeanor of the group. They all watched James, and Taiyang's expression had gone from sadness to one of slight happiness. Confusion was reading clear on his expressions, but Roman understood now that he watched the others. He saw exactly the game that James was trying to play at.

"James is right." Roman confirmed, standing up a little taller and putting himself into the space between the others. "If they think that you getting in is a fluke, then we'll be able to make this work."

"How are we going to do that then?" Junior asked quietly. "Because-"

"It's easy." James looked over at Taiyang. "You've been fighting all day, but you still have things in your pockets that you can do."

"Do I?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah," James mumbled, glancing from Qrow to Taiyang. "I think you do."

Qrow blinked and nodded, seeming to realize exactly what James had been playing at. "Yeah," Qrow said with a slight shrug. "You're hit a hell of a lot harder than it looks, I'll say that."

Taiyang nodded slowly and looked over at Raven. "You think that he's right?"

"I think he might be." Raven deadpanned, her expression reading as being a mostly bored one. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Roman thought. It meant that she was seeing this as not being a big deal at all.

"Of course we're right." Roman said, putting on the widest and most confident smile that he could manage before looking over at James. To his surprise, the man seemed to stand a little bit taller and looked just a little bit more confident himself. Between the two of them, they'd seemed to have found some sort of material that could keep them all feeling better about the day ahead.

"Right." James confirmed, coughing quietly and pulling his hand away from Qrow in the most subtle way that he could manage.

Junior took a deep breath and seated himself at the table, hoping that he'd be able to relax by the looks of things. He looked amongst the rest of the table, and Roman silently commended himself for the fact that Junior was still looking calm and relaxed as they sat there now. It was the best thing that he could have hoped for, and he was glad for it.

After all, Roman had put a hell of a lot of effort into making sure that Junior was calm.

But he looked like he had something that he'd wanted to say, and so Roman watched Junior as though he thought that something would happen.

Taiyang took a deep breath and sat up tall. "So you think that I can make it?"

Junior laughed quietly. "I think we can."

Taiyang closed his eyes and all at once, most of the tension seemed to flow out of his entire body. "Right." Taiyang said. He stood up and stretched slightly, looking over at Raven and smiling softly at her. "Walk with me?"

"Sure." Raven replied, walking off with Taiyang after taking his hand. That left Roman alone with Qrow, James, and Junior. It was a chance for them all to relax and go over how the rest of the day was supposed to go.

It was a good thing, that much Roman was sure of.

He looked over at James and watched the tall man. "Do you think that he has this for sure?"

"Yeah." James mumbled. He didn’t sound wholly confident. "I think he can make it through the next round in one piece."

"Wow." Qrow laughed quietly. "I've never heard a more glowing-"

"Will you be quiet?" James replied, shooting Qrow a glare. Qrow just let out a single laugh and relaxed into his seat again, pressing the cold pack that Roman had made for him. He pressed it to his face, and he seemed just a little bit more relaxed as he sat there.

"Nah," Qrow answered with a laugh. "I just think that you guys are getting your panties in a twist over how Tai Tai does."

Junior looked at James and then at Qrow before speaking up himself. "We just want him to do well because it helps the gym look good." He explained himself quietly. " _ And _ he's our friend."

"Right." Qrow muttered, looking over at Roman now. "And what's your excuse, Red?"

"I'm with them." Roman said, smiling charmingly as he took the moment to gesture to the two brothers. "I want the best for Xiong's."

"Because of-"

"Because I want a good paycheck, yes." Roman answered, flashing a too-wide grin that was all too confident as he sat there. "He's a good guy."

James looked over at Qrow and paused, glancing over at Taiyang for a moment before focusing on the man at his side once more. "Qrow," he said quietly. "Have you seen the guy that Tai's going into the next round with?"

"Yeah," Qrow answered with a shrug. "Beefy motherfucker named Hazel. Could probably crush any of us like a grape if he wanted to."

Roman perked up slightly, standing up just a little bit taller and doing his best to get a good idea of what was going on around the rest of the gym. Maybe he'd be able to find the person that Tai was going to fight that way.

Roman craned his neck, and he got the first good look at the remaining competitors. There were too many of them around the area, but he did find one. The man stared their corner of the gym down, a tall, incredibly thin man at his side that seemed to be playing a similar role to the one that Roman did for Xiong's.

Maybe.

"That him?" Roman asked, glancing over at Qrow.

"Yeah," Qrow muttered, looking up at Roman with a slight nod. "I think that's him."

James was the one to speak up next. He kept himself calm, and made a distinct effort not to let himself get into a situation where he draw attention to the Xiong's group. "So what do you know about him?" James asked quietly, nudging Qrow gently.

Qrow blinked and shifted slightly. "Not much." He muttered, craning his neck just slightly, with no care to keep the fact that they were all doing their best to discuss Taiyang's opponent from noticing that they were talking about him. "Just that he's apparently coming from out of state."

"He's..." Roman began to speak but his voice was fast to trail off with the realization that he didn't actually know whether or not that was allowed. "Is that..."

"Within the rules?" Junior spoke up. "Yeah, it is." He muttered quietly. "If he's got any affiliation with one of the gyms around here, then there's nothing wrong with it." He frowned, and he even looked like he was distinctly unhappy with the revelation. "It's a skeevy thing to do, but I'm willing to be that he's here because there's money in the prizes."

Roman let out a quiet sigh and shook his head, doing his best not to let the frustration with the situation show too clearly. "So is there anything else that we know about him?"

"Not really." Qrow mumbled, leaning back in his seat again and pulling his ice pack away from his face to make sure that there was nothing there to show that he was any worse injured. "I didn't manage to catch him fighting, so I don't know anything about how he is."

Junior grimaced and wiped a hand down his face. Roman reached over and gently placed his hand on the tall man's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. It was the least that he could do to help Junior feel better. After all, that was his job.

Roman had come to Green's and the tournament because he thought that he could help the others by being there for them. He closed his eyes and thought hard on what he could do for the others. "So we're dealing with a big guy-"

"Yes." James confirmed.

"That is apparently good enough to be here from outside for money-"

"Yes." James confirmed, his voice too steady.

"And we know absolutely nothing about him?" Roman finished what he was saying off, standing up and stretching slightly. "So we're going to be hiding all of that from Taiyang, aren't we?"

Junior and James exchanged a look, and Roman couldn't help the realization that the both of them looked almost guilty of what was happening. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't like the feeling that knowing that they were going to continue hiding things from Taiyang himself. There was guilt that began to settle in his chest.

There was something that none of them were ever going to be able to be able to rectify.

They were all lying to their friend.

And maybe it was possible that Raven was doing the same.

And Summer.

It might have been the worst feeling that Roman had ever experienced.

"He's going to be able to take that guy, right?" Roman asked, keeping his voice down in an attempt to figure out what he could do to help the others next. "Or..."

"Maybe." Junior said, keeping his voice down and picking his head up to get a good look at Taiyang's opponent over everyone else's heads. "We just have to do what we can to be there for him, no matter what ends up happening."

"That's it then?" Roman asked, turning and looking over at the other three at the table. "What are we..."

"We keep doing what we've been doing." James said as calmly as possible and sitting up properly. "We're going to be able to do this, and Taiyang can do this. Doubting in him isn't going to do anything to help him."

"Rich hearing that from you," Junior muttered, nudging James' shoulder with his right hand. "Seeing as-"

James' expression split into a smile, and he laughed quietly, much to Roman's surprise. He got up and brushed his hands down on his clothes in an attempt to flatten them down. He needed space, Roman could guess.

But instead, James looked over at Qrow and sighed quietly.

"We have time off," He mumbled quietly. "If you’re feeling well enough, walk with me?"

"What's in it for me?"

James didn't respond immediately, just looked to his brother. Junior nodded slowly, and then James decided to try and finish. "We'll discuss a place on Team Xiong for you in the future."

Qrow smiled, got up, and then he was off on the way with James.

Roman sighed heavily and looked over at Junior. He ended up with Junior's hand covering his, and then he decided that the best that he could do was take whatever precious little time he had and attempt to relax.

It was easy enough, and that was something that Roman could ever stop being glad for.

Even then, there was some stuff that he couldn't get away from. He couldn't stop glancing over in Hazel's direction, and he couldn't do anything to distract himself away from some of the things that were going wrong while they were there.

Even now, as they drew close to the end of this ordeal, Roman didn't quite know where he fit into things.

Of course, he figured that nobody really knew where they fit anymore when everything was taken into consideration about the events so far that day.

And it wasn't even over. They were doing well, but there was still so much more for them to fight that day.

Roman hoped that it was going to end the right way.


	66. Vicious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven's final match

"You're ready, right?"

Raven hopped back and forth from foot to foot, looking  _ very  _ annoyed with the situation at hand but also not seeming to want to say anything about it. She was chewing on her mouthguard, just waiting for the match that was already going on to end so that she could step up into the ring for herself.

Junior stood there beside her, watching her warily and feeling impossibly nervous. James was there at her side too, and he had taken the chance to slide in and hiss some words into her ears to try and comfort Raven and keep her head calm. It was about the best that he could have hoped for in a situation like this one, Junior supposed. The last thing that they really needed was for Raven to turn her viciousness up to eleven and get disqualified.

Raven was going into the ring for the last women's match of the day, and after that, they were going to have to see where things went.

Junior was absolutely positive that Raven was going to win this.

Based on the look of the woman standing on the other side of the ring, so did Raven's opponent.

Glynda Goodwitch was a rather good boxer. She was strong and fast, and tended to keep a clearer head than most would expect from her. She didn't look anywhere near as strong as Raven did, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just meant that she was probably coming in with a different skillset.

Junior couldn't help the guilt that ran through him at the realization that they had probably been paying a lot more attention to the people that Taiyang was supposed to fight than the ones that Raven would.

He supposed that Raven's apparent dominance had a lot to do with that, but that didn't mean that Junior could shake that guilt away from him so easily.

This was Raven's fight.

"Yeah," Raven answered Junior finally. She slipped out of her gloves for a moment. Junior couldn't help the frown that crossed his face at the action, but he watched as she took her long black hair out of the ponytail that sheliked to wear. She was just tying it back up, even tighter than it had been before.

It wasn't worth the risk of getting it into her face.

"What do you think of her?" Junior asked, keeping his voice down as Raven stared her opponent down from just over the edge of the canvas ring.

"I think that I'm going to kick her ass." Raven answered, stretching and slipping back into her gloves. "That's what we're here for, right?"

"Yeah." Junior relented with a grimace. "It is."

Junior didn't like the sinking feeling that was getting stronger and stronger with every moment that he stood there with Raven. The knowledge that she was probably getting cocky wasn't good, and it mostly just left Junior wondering whether this could ever work out in their favor.

Luckily, James was also there and he seemed to be managing to keep his head about things well enough.

"Just don't get too confident." Junior said, trying hard not to chew at his lower lip as he stood there and waited. "We don't know what this woman is capable of."

Raven rolled her eyes. "I really don't think that some blonde girl is going to be able to beat me." She blinked and looked across the ring at the woman and her face began to split into a deep grin. Raven's mouth opened like she wanted to say something, and she turned to James-

Only to be silenced by a death stare from the taller man.

Raven clamped her mouth shut, having gotten the message.

Junior was glad that he didn't have to be there to see the aftermath of whatever she was about to say.

The three of them fell into silence for a little while after that, waiting patiently while a winner to the match was announced. None of them said anything, and once the ring was vacated the three of them stepped up to the ringside together.

Raven stripped off the t-shirt that she' been wearing to reveal the tight fitting top that she was wearing underneath. Junior swallowed hard and looked around the gym to see that thankfully, the only one staring seemed to be Taiyang. Aside from that, Qrow was conspicuously absent, and Junior figured that was a good thing, based on what he knew about the Branwen twins.

"Are you ready?" Junior asked Raven the question one last time as he began to check that she was strapped into her gloves correctly. There was absolutely no room for this to fail. Every detail was going to end up being checked and rechecked before Raven finally went into the ring to do whatever it was that she needed to do up there.

And Junior was going to make sure that everything worked.

"I'm going to be fine, Junior." Raven muttered through grit teeth. "I'm going to go into that ring, I'm going to beat that woman, and then you're going to treat me to dinner like a  _ champion _ ."

Silence settled between the three of them, and Junior couldn't help but notice that James was looking just a little bit nervous with everything that Raven had just said. Of course, he was sure that there was something to it, but James wasn't saying anything about it.

The minutes ticked by, slowly. The area at ringside was set and ready, James was ready, Junior was ready, and Raven was climbing up into the ring across from a woman that was a little bit shorter than her, but not by much.

The two women were giving each other death stares, and Junior couldn't help but worry that this fight might got a little further than it was supposed to.

He knew Raven too well. If she was going to get brutal in this fight, she wasn't going to be holding back with that for even a second.

Junior cast a glance over at James, who was leaning against the side of the ring. Occasionally he would raise a hand to rub at his shoulder, but for the most part James said nothing. He was as focused and as nervous as Junior was.

But the day had to go on.

The match had to start.

And when it started, it would start in a surprisingly calm manner.

The two women circled around each other. To some surprise, both were holding their gloves up high and both were waiting for the other to be the first one to strike. Raven was going to win this, Junior was sure of it, but Junior wouldn't be damned if Raven wasn't going to go ahead and bait as much out of her opponent as he possibly could.

It would be Glynda to throw the first strike. She stepped in close to Raven, throwing a punch at Raven that was definitely more for judging distance than it was for dealing damage. And Raven seemed to be fully aware of that fact, if the way that she reacted to the punch was any indicator.

The punch didn't land, but as Glynda was pulling her hand back in, Raven took the chance to step in and throw out an attack of her own.

She wasn't kind about it either.

The first hit landed against Goodwitch's stomach so hard that the slap of the vinyl glove that Raven wore against flesh echoed throughout the entire gym. It was enough to knock Glynda back a bit, and Junior was sure that if Raven had changed the placement of the strike just slightly it would have been more than enough to knock the breath out of the blonde.

Change the placement a little more, and Glynda might have had a cracked rib. 

Glynda separated herself away from Raven, and it looked like she was doing her absolute best to find an opening in Raven's defenses.

The two women circled each other, and Junior finally got a good chance to get a good look at Raven's expressions. He could almost see something important- something akin to a slight movement in Raven's lips as she moved that indicated rather clearly that Raven was counting something.

She was probably using it as a way that she could keep track of the speed of the fight and how much time she had.

Raven's lips barely mouthed the word  _ 'four'  _ before Raven stepped in towards Glynda, making sure to try and come at the other woman from the side since she seemed to think that was going to be the best way to finish this fight.

Glynda lowered her elbows down to her sides in an attempt to block the strike, but was a little too slow. She managed to catch Raven's wrist for just a second, which only served to make Raven frustrated and angry. Instead of pulling back, Raven took the chance to pull herself in towards Glynda to deliver an even harder, more devastating punch.

All that Junior could think was that Raven was somehow managing to keep the pace of this fight surprisingly slow.

Which was interesting, since Raven was a speed fighter if Junior had ever seen one.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Junior still wasn't quite able to quell the worry that built up in him and refused to let him go.

Raven was an exceptional fighter, and to Junior, that was a mantra that he was sure that he was going to have to carry to the grave if the way that the match had been going so far was any indication.

If anything, this was just a matter of Raven doing everything in her power to keep the pace of the fight on her side.

Or maybe her opponent was hoping to beat her in a game of stamina.

Either way, Junior wasn't quite sure where it was going to go just yet. Mostly, he was just afraid for Raven.

But the woman didn't leave much of a chance for her to get knocked down. Glynda managed to recuperate herself well enough, hauling herself back upright since that seemed to be her best chance at finding victory through all of this. In a match like this, maybe Glynda's best bet was to just stay standing against Raven.

The two women separated back from each other again. Raven didn't do anything to indicate that her wrist was injured, which was certainly something that Junior could be more than grateful for.

The absolute last thing that any of them needed to be thinking about or worrying about in this match was Raven being injured, and Junior was sure that he would have cut off his right hand to make sure that Raven didn't get hurt.

Glynda and Raven circled back into the center of the ring, both guarding themselves against the other and both seeming incredibly wary of everything that could come later.

But it wouldn't last. Soon enough, Glynda and Raven moved back in towards each other as the seconds on the clock over their heads began to tick down, second by second.

Neither of them were throwing particularly aggressive punches towards the end of the first round of the match, and Junior could only assume that it was because Glynda and Raven were both doing their best to take the time as a chance to strategize and watch each other. They both needed to know everything about each other, and Junior knew Raven- she was looking for the first weakness that she could possibly find for no reason other than to exploit it.

The bell went off, and all at once the match stopped. Raven and Glynda both straightened up and walked over to the edges of the ring where Junior and James were both already prepared to act as a medical team the second that Raven sat down.

When Raven took her seat, the first thing that Junior realized was that there was definitely nothing to treat.

"Well, what do you think?" Raven asked as she rested on the stool, leaning her body back against the edge of the ring in an attempt to relax just slightly. She waited there, almost patiently, until James was passing her a bottle of water to drink from in the meantime.

"I think she's good." James said, quietly. "Calculating, if nothing else."

"Right." Raven growled. "I'm gonna kick her ass so hard that she can't sit for three weeks."

James didn't say anything. Just shook his head and looked around the gym before mumbling "that's the spirit." To Raven. She smirked cockily, and Junior couldn't help but be glad for it.

Raven was as on top of things as they were.

She had her stuff together, and that was about the most that they could hope for.

"What's your plan for the next round?" Junior asked, drawing the attention of the others onto himself.

Raven paused and hummed quietly before speaking up.

"I'm gonna kill her." She took a swig of water. "Obviously."

Junior had to fight himself to be able to bite back the response that so willingly danced on his tongue and wished to force itself forward.

That’s what I’m afraid of.

After that, Junior was all too willing to let himself fade into the background as Raven and James bounced strategies for the fight back and forth with each other like they thought that it was going to actually matter in the long run. With Raven acting so impassioned, Junior could only doubt that she was going to actually pay attention to strategy once she was back in the ring and facing her opponent.

That said, Junior couldn't help but wonder how much Glynda Goodwitch was thinking about strategy over on her side of the ring. Was she having the same conversation with her coach that Raven was having with him now?

He wouldn't have the time to find out an answer to that question. Soon enough, Raven was hauling herself to her feet and giving her gloves a final check before she climbed back up into the ring for a fight. Junior bit his lower lip and stepped into position at James' side as the two of them waited for the fight to begin again.

"Think she'll keep her head?" Junior asked James, since he could at the very least hope that James was going to be able to find something in this situation to use as comfort. "Or-"

"She will." James said so matter-of-factly that the fact that this was a matter of speculation all but slipped away from Junior's mind entirely. James was looking at this pragmatically, Junior could guess. "She'll keep her head, in her own way."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

James nodded slowly and pursed his lips. "Don't be."

That wasn't nearly enough to make Junior feel better about it. But he also figured that it was going to be something that he was just going to have to be able to roll with. Raven was strong, and if James was sure, then Junior figured that he had to listen to his brother.

Being unsure probably wasn't doing anything to help anyone.

So when it came for the fight to start, Junior crossed his arms over his chest and did his best to not look like he was completely insecure where he was standing.

With the ring of a bell, the world restarted for what had to have been the tenth or eleventh time that day for Junior. There was no relief in it.

Raven and Glynda moved towards each other so quickly that Junior was sure that if he had blinked he would have missed the initiation of their combat. The strikes that landed went one by one. Raven. Glynda. Raven. Glynda. Separate momentarily before the two of them moved back in again.

It seemed that they were both running on the same strategy for this round, and that was to just beat the everloving hell out of each other until there was absolutely no chance that the other could still be standing once everything was said and done.

Junior made a mental note to make sure that they would have ice packs set aside for Raven once the match was over. He had a feeling that she was going to be wanting one, if the volume of Glynda's hits landing on her body were any good indication.

Most surprisingly, there was the fact that neither of the two women seemed to be slowing down in the fight at all. They were both moving as quickly as they could, and if either of them were beginning to tire out, Junior definitely couldn't see it.

All that he could see was that these two women were absolutely dedicated to utterly destroying the other by any means possible.

They were both the best in the field for a reason, Junior decided. The way that both women were moving around each other with so much finesse and close attention to everything that happened was enough to keep things interesting. These two women were the best.

It showed.

And Junior had a feeling that whoever ended up winning this match was going to end up being the right person. This was too evenly matched.

And both of them fighters seemed to be entirely aware of it.

Raven took a particularly nasty hit to the side of the head, but she didn't seem to get staggered by it at all. Instead, she kept on moving and she kept on attacking Glynda until it was her turn to deliver a strike to the woman's head.

It wouldn't matter, because the bell would ring when she was barely halfway through the punch.

This was one of the moments where Junior realized that he was glad that Raven was smart enough to let herself be driven by emotion and anger alone. If she'd let that punch connect, Junior was sure that she would have been disqualified from the match for it.

But she dropped her arm back to her side and moved away from Glynda. The first step was slow, as was the second. After the third step, Raven finally turned her back on her opponent and made her way over to where Junior and James were already waiting for her.

"I'm going to kill her." Raven hissed as she dropped into the seat between James and Junior. "I swear to go-"

"You'll be fine." James growled, cutting Raven off before she could say anything more in her frustration. "What have you got?"

"She's not getting tired and it's pissing me off." Raven growled a response as she began to unfasten her gloves at a relatively quick pace that Junior really didn't like. She shouldn't have been anywhere near this frustrated or uptight about things, and yet she was.

Oh, he was afraid of where this was going to take them.

"So what's your strategy?" James asked, dropping his volume so that it was going to be low enough between the three of them in their corner alone. James was smart, Junior reminded himself- even if it didn't seem like there was any actual chance that they would be intruded or spied on, James wasn't going to open up the possibility for such a thing to happen.

It was respectable, really.

"I don't know." Raven answered, tilting her head up so that she could shoot James a red eyed glare. "Am I allowed to concuss her?"

James paused and glanced over at Junior out of the corner of his eye. For just a moment, Junior was sure that the look in James' eyes was one of  _ pleading _ but he couldn't really be confident in that. James didn't plead with people, not really.

Not anymore, at the very least.

"No." Junior said finally. "It's fine if it's incidental, but you better not give them a reason to suspect that was your aim."

Raven groaned quietly and drank from the bottle of water that she had. For a moment she shifted how she was sitting so that she could get a good look at her body where there were probably going to be plenty of bruises later on in the night. Junior was sure that he was never going to be able to stop worrying about that.

"I just don't like how this is going."

"I know." James said quietly to Raven, doing his best to offer her some comfort. "But you have one round left in this match, and then it'll either go to judges, or one of you will be on the ropes or passed out."

Raven shot James a glare as a response, and Junior couldn't help but smirk.

Honestly, James deserved that one.

"Don't-"

"Just stating facts." James replied as he held up the first of Raven's gloves so that she could go ahead and shove her hand back into it once she was ready to go back into the ring again. She finished off her drink and shoved it back into Junior's hands before forcing her hands into the gloves once more.

The two of them took a long moment to check that they were fastened in place properly before Raven was finally getting up again and getting ready to go back up into the ring.

Junior had to step in front of her as Raven was about to take the first few steps forward so that she could go inside and begin the last round of the fight. It wasn't time yet, and there were things that Junior wanted to be able to say to Raven before she went in.

"Raven." He said her name as calmly as he possibly could in an attempt to get her to listen to him. "You need to keep your head."

"I'm fine." Raven growled her response at him. "What do you want?"

"I want you to come out of this with a win, but I don't want you to psych yourself out in the process." Junior said, raising a hand so that he could get a better look at Raven's face to check for injuries.

Nothing was there.

"I can do this, Junior."

"I know you can."

Raven paused, and she stared up at Junior with a look on her face that Junior wasn’t quite able to place. The woman pursed her lips and nodded slowly. She understood, and Junior had said everything that he’d needed to say to her.

They both knew what was going on.

Soon enough, Junior told himself. Soon they would all know the way that things were supposed to go. Soon, whether or not his trust and belief in Raven was going to be able to work out.

Raven was strong.

No matter how many times Junior told himself that, he didn’t think that he was going to be able to find a way to work through this properly.

But there was work to be done, and Raven carried that cross on her shoulders with a willingness unlike anything that Junior had known before. And when she stepped into that ring again, Raven Branwen held herself like a god about to step into battle against someone that would dare attempt to usurp her.

Glynda stepped in as well. The woman held her head high and carried herself with purpose in the same way that Raven did, and with equal coldness. There was certainly someone on the other side of the ring, standing there and watching Glynda in the same way that Junior and James watched Raven now.

This was going to be the last chance that any of them had to bring home a prize of any sort to their home gyms.

And Raven and Glynda both seemed to be chiefly aware of that as they stepped up in front of each other and mutually offered their fists for a customary sort of greeting and the two even seemed to wish each other good luck.

The two women separated and all that Junior could think was that there was something about the way that Raven was carrying herself that actually seemed  _ calm. _ Like she had somehow passed into another realm of existence between talking to him and stepping into the ring across from Glynda.

A bell rang, and the two women set back to motion.

Junior couldn't pay that much attention to the battle. The beating of his chest ensured that, and when he glanced over at James, he saw that his brother was looking equally nervous about the match ahead of them. He was feeling the same way. If there was any way that Junior was supposed to read that, he figured that it had to be in comfort.

He wasn't all alone in this. James was feeling the same way and he was experiencing this in the same ways that Junior was.

That was all that he could hope for.

In this final round, it was Glynda that would end up throwing the first punch, and it would only get blocked and deflected away from Raven with a simple raise of the hands that was soon punctuated with a fast punch to Glynda's stomach.

This was the first time that Junior had seen either fighter seem to curl in on herself over the course of the fight. He was sure that he'd seen it from Qrow during his fight with Taiyang, but that had been a different situation.

Being able to see Glynda do that now was a good thing, at least in theory. Junior was able to cling onto that fact. Glynda getting injured and curling in on herself meant that there was a much better chance that Raven was going to win. It was an upper hand, and Junior could trust that Raven would do whatever she needed to be able to bring home a victory.

And more than that, Junior trusted that Raven was going to take advantage of it and do all that she could to keep going without allowing herself to hold back.

It was admirable.

Glynda did recover though. She stood up and got back into her fighting stance, moving back in Raven's direction slowly and holding her hands up to block as much as she needed. Raven was watching her and was careful to sidestep her way around Glynda as the two of them moved.

For Junior, it took next to nothing to make him realize that Raven was doing whatever she could to make sure that she didn't end up in a situation where he was going to have to face Glynda straight on.

Maybe Raven thought that getting hits in on the sides was going to be the best way to win all of this.

ANd it seemed to be working, based on the way that Raven managed to land a hard punch on Glynda's right elbow, and then followed it up quickly with a jab that hit a little more directly to the woman's stomach.

Glynda fell back, and she didn't make much of an effort to get any closer to Raven.

It was practically an admittance of defeat.

Maybe.

Probably not, if the way that Glynda sidestepped out of the way to try and get out of the space where Raven had thrown a punch at her. She managed to evade and jabbed at Raven's chest with her fists. The first two hits struck, but Raven was fast enough that she was actually able to keep going with this fight and recover.

It didn't take too long before Raven got back into Glynda's range and threw all of her weight behind the punch that she sent in Glynda's direction. If it landed, then Junior was sure that this was going to be the strike that would ultimately end the fight.

It came without finesse and without much to indicate how the hit would land aside from the general direction that Raven had decided to throw her body in the attack.

When it landed, it was to Glynda's jaw, hard, and devastating.

The woman stumbled back, and she looked almost shaky on her feet as she did everything in her power to be able to recover from the attack.

It was a short wait, and eventually Glynda did recover.

However, it didn't come soon enough.

The bell rang just as Glynda had managed to get herself upright.

That was it.

They had no choice now but to await their fate.


	67. Putting It All On Pause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time in between

The wait for a declared winner of Raven and Glynda's match had felt like it had stretched on for close to an eternity. Even without proper involvement in the group, Roman was feeling the nervous tension that had flooded over the group. He had Summer at his side, gripping his arm tight as the two of them stood there and watched.

James and Junior were there at ringside, both waiting equally nervously. James' fist was even pressed to his mouth, and a quick glance over at Taiyang showed that the blond was standing there with his phone out and held to his ear and Roman had to presume that Qrow was on the other line of the phone, having been banished according to whatever strange superstition the Branwen twins held.

With an announcement that probably could have shattered planets, Raven was declared a winner. Roman watched her, and was instantly struck by the fact that she barely seemed to react to everything that had happened. She just stepped over to the edge of the ring, where James and Junior were already waiting for her.

She was barely off of the side of the ring before James was stepping up beside her, wrapping a banner that Roman quickly recognized as having the Xiong's logo on it over her shoulders, and the three of them were making their way back over to the Xiong's table where they were going to be able to make themselves comfortable and rest.

Qrow stormed in through the front door, and Roman couldn't help the smile when he saw how excited the man looked. Even looking like a mess, with dark bruising blooming across his jaw, Qrow looked ecstatic. 

Roman was the first back at their table, and he was quick to open up the cooler to try and find some sort of sweet that he could pass Raven's way. Beside the cooler was the box of Summer's cookies, and so Roman decided to let it rest, for a little bit.

After some time (Raven had gotten caught up talking to people, and it seemed like James and Junior had gotten tugged aside to discuss business) the entire group was there and reconvening.

The first thing that happened when Raven got back to the table was that Qrow reached out to wrap his arms around the woman with a too-wide grin across his face.

"Nice win." Roman said, smiling across at Raven as he leaned back and flopped down into one of the seats there without much grace. "How're you feeling?"

James responded with a quiet laugh. "Like she needs an ice pack, I would guess." Roman nodded slowly, understanding completely. He reached into the cooler and found a dry kitchen towel that he wrapped some ice in before passing it over to Raven.

She took it gratefully and pressed the cold pack to her neck.

"OKay, I guess." Raven said finally a little too calmly. "It was a match, I won. I'm a champion." She closed her eyes and let her head flop back as she did her best to relax in the seat that she'd taken. "I bet she's leaving. Humiliated."

Roman blinked and picked his head up so that he could get a good look around the area in an attempt to figure out how different the situation was. Sure enough, he saw Glynda there, trailing just behind a couple of people as they made their way out of the gym, defeated.

Roman supposed that settled it. Raven had won, and all of the woman that had come to compete all seemed to be leaving if they had come alone. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it mean that there was going to be time for them all to rest easy for a little while.

Well, Roman thought as his eyes grazed over the center of Hazel's back as the man stood in a crowd and talked to the mustached man that he had come there with. They only had the time to relax until Taiyang had to step back into the ring again.

It was only slightly worrying that the man that Taiyang was going to end up going into the ring with was a terrifying beast of a man.

Oh, how Roman was worried for what would come later that they were going to have to worry about.

What were they going to do if Taiyang got so stressed out that nobody was able to calm him down? What would they do if that somehow managed to pass onto everyone else in the group and stress them out as well?

Roman didn't know, and he really didn't want to know what the result of this all would be like.

"So," Roman glanced over at Taiyang. "What happens now?"

"Now?" Taiyang asked, flopping into the seat next to Raven and reaching over in her direction so that he could go ahead and touch her hand gently. Raven accepted it and let herself settle under Taiyang's touch, seeming all too glad for whatever was going to come from this. "We wait the rest of the day out, I guess."

Roman nodded and looked over at Raven. They were going to have to make reservations wherever they ended up having dinner, since it was a fairly large group and Roman knew the service industry well enough to know that a group of their size would end up being a pain.

And Raven had just won a championship, so maybe it wouldn't hurt for him to try and do something about that.

"You want to pick where we have dinner?" Roman asked quietly, smiling softly at the woman.

Raven stared at him, her eyes wide and confused as Roman spoke. Almost like being allowed to make a decision about how they all spent their night was something that she had never expected to be able to give an opinion on.

She glanced over at Taiyang out of the corner of her eye, and the blonde shifted himself so that he could face Raven a little bit more face-on. Summer slid in on Raven's other side, and the three of them seemed to be whispering plans to each other before Summer nodded, smiled widely, and glanced up at Roman.

"Think you can get us in at Beacon Pizza?"

Roman blinked and shrugged, because that was by far probably the best that he could have hoped for.

But Roman did suppose that it was a silver lining that he wasn't going to take for granted. Simple tastes were the sorts of things that made his job so much easier to do.

He reached into his pocket and found his phone, checking over his contacts to see whether or not he'd been asked to reserve them at a place that he had on speed dial. He found that they weren't, and so he went to his web browser to find the number while the others just talked about what was still yet to come.

There was a certain sort of electric undercurrent that ran with all of them that none of them were able to ignore. Roman especially, but that was mostly because he was so used to tuning himself into the moods and emotions of others to see whether or not he was doing his job correctly.

It was a quick phone call, and once he was done, Roman rejoined everyone else in whatever way he was able to.

Qrow and Raven seemed to have found ways to enjoy themselves, and a quick glance over at James and Taiyang showed that the two men were bent over a sheet of paper that looked like some sort of chart. Roman didn't bother to ask what it was all about, if only because he didn't really know what charts and tables could have to do with anything in a situation like this one.

"We have a reservation for after this is all over." Roman announced as he leaned back against the table once more and reached for the tub of snacks that Summer had brought along with her for everyone to share while they were at the tournament.

"Thanks Roman." Raven said in her usual deadpan, barely breaking away from the conversation that he was in. "We all appreciate it."

Roman didn't know how to respond at first, so he just decided to flash his usual smile and hope that it would be enough to distract everyone else from how he was doing.

"It's no problem." Roman said before leaning in towards Junior, who was sitting in one of the seats at the table with his eyes closed in an attempt to relax. Junior seemed to start under his touch for a second before realizing that everything was fine and relaxing again.

"What is it?" Junior asked, looking up at Roman and squinting. For a moment, Roman had to wonder whether or not Junior had managed to fall asleep for a little while there. It wouldn't have surprised him all that much to find out, though. He was sure that there was someone in all of this that was probably close to overloading or sleeping forever at that point.

Even Roman was starting to feel a bit tired, all things considered. That was especially concerning when Roman remembered the fact that he'd been the one that had probably done the least over the course of that day. It was just a lot of work to do, and all of them were up to plenty to be able to keep things working.

Soon it would be over.

"We have reservations for food." Roman said quietly, since he figured Junior didn't need any extra noise or excitement. "For once this is all over."

"Oh." Junior responded, blinking and sitting up halfway. "Thanks, Roman."

"It's not a big deal." Roman answered with a shrug. "So just to be clear..."

"Yes?"

"All that we have left to do today is worry about Taiyang's match, right?"

Junior nodded slowly, and it was really all the confirmation that Roman had needed on the matter. It wasn't at all unwelcome.

"That's right." Junior confirmed. For just a second, the man's dark grey eyes flickered over to the space where Qrow was sitting, like he was checking something that he didn't dare say out loud. "I don't think we're going to need to stop in at an infirmary or anything unless..."

"Unless Tai gets his face busted up in the last match?" Roman finished, although he wasn't all that confident that he'd made it to the right topic. "I'd rather not have to have all of us go to a hospital for any reason, personally."

Junior shrugged, and he pursed his lips for a moment before he spoke up again. "Well, it's a high risk sport. Even if nobody’s bleeding-" For just a moment, Junior paused and that was all that was needed. But Junior decided to keep going, and so Roman was glad to keep listening. "We all know that, and you didn't see it-" He paused mid explanation. "When we all arrived, everyone was signing waivers promising that none of us would go ahead and sue if someone got a little too busted up. Even years down the line."

"I suspected that sort of thing happened," Roman said with a shrug. "I've seen plenty of things go poorly where the businesses involved were left  _ wishing  _ that they had some sort of waiver that would be enough to protect them."

Junior smiled. "We'd have to do the same thing if Xiong's ever needed to host something, so it's not that big of a deal." He explained with a slight shrug. "Not a big deal."

"Well," Roman spoke up. "If we have to bring someone to urgent care or something, we'll be ready for it."

"I doubt we'll have to." Junior reiterated. "The most common injuries that people walk out of this sort of thing with is split eyebrows. When that happens, they'll basically glue it all back together and send them on their way."

"Glue?" Roman replied. "Does that work?"

"It's like cement." Junior answered with a shrug. "We've all had to have it at some point."

Roman grimaced and did his best to relax. "Right." he said quietly. His eyes strayed over to James and Taiyang, to see that the two men were still bent over their paperwork. "What are they up to?"

"Probably looking at the judge's cards for Hazel's last rounds." Junior said with a shrug. "It's public knowledge so not technically disallowed. Just doing their best to get ready for the next fight."

It made sense, Roman thought to himself as he pushed himself up to his feet, feeling just a little bit anxious. He couldn't help it- it was too common a feeling amongst the group that day. His eyes grazed over Junior and he made a motion towards the door with his jaw to ask whether Junior wanted to get up and walk with him, for just a little while.

Junior rose to his feet, and then the two of them were quick to leave the building and make their ways outside so that they could find whatever comfort in the open air that they could.

It was getting dark. Of course, when they had arrived at the gym that morning, it had been a bit dark, but that was because the sun had still been just barely peeking up over the skyline of the city. But now, it was late, and they were still going to have to keep themselves there for one more match, and Roman was more than willing to bet that there was going to be more time spent there even after it was over.

All of his work in promotions told him that it was highly likely that they were going to have to stick around for Raven to do a photoshoot with whoever ended up winning the other divisions. Whether or not they would be waiting on Taiyang was still up in the air, but at the very least, it was going to be about Raven. He hadn't been looking, but Roman was sure that there had to be someone there from the local newspaper or something to take photos to put in the sports pages later on.

It only made sense, and so Roman was careful to keep that in the back of his mind. He didn't think that it would be necessary, but if it was needed, he was going to call the pizzeria that they'd reserved a table in to let them know that the group was running late. It was just the least that he could do to keep things going, regardless.

Junior fell in at Roman's side, and Roman almost jumped when he felt Junior's large hand wrap around his as the two of them began to walk side by side. It was new, and foreign. Sitting together and holding hands over dinner was one thing, but this was something else entirely. Even despite the fact that the two had done things earlier in that day together, and that they'd shared a bed a couple of times in the past, this was something that was enough to make Roman's heart beat too hard against his chest.

In the end, Junior would be the first one of the two of them to speak up.

"You're nervous."

"A little bit." Roman confirmed, glancing down at the ground as he walked with the larger man. "It's just that we're so close, you know?"

"I know." Junior said quietly, swiping the side of his thumb over the back of Roman's knuckles and then beginning to just massage small circles into the flesh. "I know that this whole thing's probably been a pain for you-"

"It's fine." Roman said, cracking a smile. "Really, this is nothing compared to the other things that I've done for work at various points."

Junior laughed quietly. "You sound awful confident about that."

Roman grinned widely. "Well, Baby Bear, once you've searched an entire building for a stripper's purple sequined bra you've kind of seen it all."

To no surprise of Roman's at all, Junior flushed a bright red. Roman didn't say anything about it, but he did take the chance to nudge the other man with his shoulder playfully.

"You have to be joking."

"I wish I was."

"But-"

"Work is work, Junior." Roman laughed, pulling the other man in just a little bit closer as the two of them rounded around to the back of Green's gym. "I learned long ago that I have absolutely no sense of shame and I learned how to own that very early on." Roman looked up at the sky, wishing that he was able to see the stars above them. It would change the mood so much, but instead he saw clouds which were polluted with the light from the city itself. "It's really nothing."

"Well," Junior said, keeping his voice down himself. "I hope that we haven't made things that awkward for you." He paused for a long while. "You know... about work."

"I know." Roman answered, grimacing and looking back at the other man as he decided to lean against the back of the building. "My contract is ending. The fact that neither of you have brought it up to me was something I was wondering about."

"James and I agreed that we should wait until this was all over." Junior explained quietly. "I mean, I guess in a way it already is- you promoted us, you've gotten us a better look within the community, and we even are bringing home a title for Xiong's." He shrugged. "By all means I could tell you now that I'm letting you go."

"It's fine." Roman said, keeping his voice down. "The contract that we arranged at the beginning of all of this should go over everything that you need to know regarding payment."

"Right." Junior mumbled, his face contorting into a frown of sorts. Deep down, Roman hated himself for deciding to take such a business-oriented approach to this conversation. It wasn't what Junior deserved, especially when there was something so obviously emotional that had been built up between the two of them. "You know," he began, "I was thinking that I could talk to James about keeping you on the staff-"

"That's fine." Roman said with a wave of his hand. "If you need me, you have my number. Just give me a call and I'd be happy to help you guys out."

"And if not?"

"Then I hope that you won't forget about me, Hei Xiong Junior." Roman said, narrowing his eyes and staring into Junior's dark grey ones in an attempt to really hammer the message home. "I care about you and your business but..."

"But?"

"But what we've been doing... it's unprofessional Junior. I could get into a lot of trouble for what's here, and so could you. Once I'm not under your employment anymore, then I won't have as much to worry about on that front." Roman paused and let out a quiet sigh. "It's just better off this way, you know?"

There was a lot that could be said for the quiet sigh that left Junior's lips as a response to what Roman had just said. It spoke of understanding, and some sadness, and worry, and for something else. Roman didn't want to get so deeply worked up by it, or wrapped up in how Junior was feeling about this.

For Roman, this was a matter of keeping things separate for the sake of keeping things safe between them. It was better for them in the long run if there wasn't any work between the two of them.

"Okay." Junior said finally, his voice coming out as being barely above a whisper. "I'm not going to forget about you."

Roman laughed quietly and just squeezed Junior's hand in hopes that it would be enough to tell Junior exactly how he felt about the entire ordeal.

"Trust me," Roman said, halfway between the laugh. "I know."

"Do you?"

"Yeah." Roman said again, keeping his voice a bit more quiet and stepping in. "I do." There was a long pause that lingered between the two of them, and then finally he spoke up again.

"We should get back in, right?"

Junior blinked, his grey eyes wide before he nodded and spoke quietly. "You're right." He said finally. "We should go and try to get things ready."

Roman nodded, released Junior's hand, and then the two of them were going back inside together.


	68. Weight Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel vs Taiyang: Round One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when this was written we didn't actually know how huge Hazel is so uh... Yeah. That's a thing.

"He's huge." Taiyang said, sounding a little more than just in awe as he stood across the training area from his opponent. Junior let out a quiet sigh and just rubbed at the blonde's shoulders between a couple of strikes at the training pad that James was holding. "How am I supposed to deal with someone  _ that  _ big. I won’t even be able to reach-"

"You're just supposed to go in and fight him as best as you can." Junior said quietly. "I know that it's not ordeal, but you have to do the best that you can." He picked his head up and he finally got a good chance to take a look at how Hazel Rainart was looking in preparation for the final round of the tournament.

The man was so tall, so strong and so ready to fight. He probably walked in that morning expecting to go far in the tournament.

All that Junior could think was that it was hard to believe that Hazel and Taiyang were actually supposed to be facing each other. 

Either way, this was going to happen.

"I don't think that I can." Taiyang whispered, stepping away from Junior and throwing a few punches at the pad that the bored-looking James was holding in front of him. "This guy-"

"Isn't a local." Junior said quietly, keeping his volume low so that he couldn't get Hazel paying any attention to them instead of the small group that he had come to the tournament with. "Nobody will blame you for anything if you end up losing this."

Taiyang blinked wide and he dropped his hands back down to his sides. "What-"

James dropped the pad in front of himself a little bit and stretched slightly, rolling his neck before getting just a little bit closer to Taiyang. "What he means-" James began quietly, "Is that this is a guy that's more or less coming into the area expecting weak competition so that he can get a cash prize. Nothing more."

Junior nodded and angled himself so that the three of them stood in a small circle together. They all looked between each other, and James decided to take charge over the situation before speaking up once more. "If you don't think that you're going to be able to win, there's no shame in that." James said quietly, like he thought that it was going to somehow be enough to make Taiyang feel a little bit better about the fight. "But you should still at least try."

"I'm going to try!" Taiyang exclaimed, bringing his hands together in front of him and shifting from foot to foot almost nervously. "I'm just worried about what's going to happen." He craned his neck, just a little bit so that he could get a better view of Hazel.

The man was standing there, with his back turned to them and he was talking to a man that looked far too thin to be a competitor. Junior didn't know that he wanted to go ahead and try to read into it at all, but it was something that he could look into either way.

Junior let his eyes sweep over Hazel's back, The man looked too strong to be there for the tournament, at least in some way. It was like he belonged in another division of competition altogether. Junior wasn't a  big fan of seeing this, but there had to be something said for engaging in regular regional tournaments as a way to keep practice up.

Nobody from Xiong's would probably ever be able to do that sort of thing, and if they could, Junior wasn't so sure that he would support it anyways.

"So." James said quietly. "There's going to be a match whether you like it or not." He looked between Taiyang and Junior for a moment. "You're going to be able to do perfectly well in this."

Taiyang frowned and his brow furrowed. His eyes went wide, and Junior kept himself quiet for just a little while. He didn't want for James to get into a situation where the two of them weren't going to be able to get past where they already were. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." James said quietly. "C'mon," He raised the pad back up in front of him. "We can keep talking, but you can't let yourself get too distracted in all of this."

Taiyang let out a quiet sigh and Junior picked his hand up to pat on Taiyang's shoulder. "He's right." Junior said quietly. "We need to keep on going."

Taiyang pursed his lips and nodded slowly, beginning to hit against the pad that James was holding up in front of him once more. The three of them fell into a comfortable rhythm as they practiced and got read to fight more. It worked fairly well. James would hold the pad for as long as he could manage before passing it off to Junior to use, and the entire time they would explain strategy or do their best to figure out how to deal with this.

Eventually, it would all pass, and then they were collectively getting ready to go back into the ring together so that they could get Taiyang into the final round.

Before they went to ringside, the three of them stopped by the table so that Taiyang could have some water, slip off to the bathroom, and get a few words of encouragement from everyone from Xiong’s. It was a genuine surprise, but Qrow even stepped up and wished Taiyang luck, despite the fact that he'd already lost his match against the man. Taiyang got a few kisses out of Raven and Summer, and Roman even managed to get a hug in before the three of them were walking up to the ringside. The bravado that should have been there about the whole thing just wasn't- none of them were interested in showing off.

The only thing that the entire Xiong's group was carrying to show any sort of significant pride was that banner that James kept so neatly folded under his arm as the three of them began to set their things up at ringside so that Taiyang could have his breaks between matches. While James got their things set into place and prepared, Junior decided that it was a good chance to get a few final words with Taiyang in.

"Alright." Junior said quietly. "Are you ready?"

Tai nodded, his eyes wide and nervous as he pushed his mouth guard into place. He pulled his lips back into a smile so that he could show Junior that it was in place properly and nodded slowly. Taiyang's nervousness was showing all too clearly, and the crowd that was beginning to build around the ring offered absolutely nothing to make this situation any better than it was. It made Junior feel like his stomach was about to flip.

The matches that had gone on earlier in the day had never had so much scrutiny. Usually there were more than one match going on at a time, so the viewers were split amongst them. But now,  this was the only match, and it was the big one that people seemed to have been looking forward to over the course of the day.

This was bad, Junior thought to himself and chewed at his lower lip as he watched James pull Taiyang aside to check that his gear was all on properly and that he was ready. It looked like there was something being mumbled between the two of them, but Junior didn't know that he wanted to get involved. The chance was too high that whatever it was would only serve to make him get more nervous about the situation at hand.

And while he could afford to be nervous with James at ringside, he couldn't risk that beginning to rub off on Taiyang at any point. It was just too easy for a match like this to get ruined by nerves.

The minutes ticked down, one by one, and with every moment that they got closer to the match, Junior was beginning to find it harder and harder to concentrate on the issue at hand. He let out a quiet sigh and turned away from James and Junior to look over at the Xiong's crew, who were all standing behind the small partition that kept them away from the ring. They were all standing there, talking nervously amongst themselves, and some even clinging on to each other.

They were just as nervous about what was to come as he was, by the looks of things.

Junior swallowed hard and turned back to James and Taiyang. He needed to do something- he needed to do whatever he could to show that he was in charge of this situation and that he could actually deal with whatever went forward for them. "You two ready?"

"I think so." Taiyang said, though the words left his lips awkwardly, no doubt because of the mouthguard that he was wearing. He bounced from his right foot to his left, and back again, doing his best to keep himself calm for the match that was ahead of him. Junior couldn't blame him for it.

James nodded slowly and said nothing. He looked exhausted.

They all did, really. Junior was sure that he was going to sleep forever once he finally got home for the night.

But it was about time.

Junior caught one last glance of Taiyang's competitor to see that the man was looking much less nervous about the match up ahead. He was standing there, talking quietly to two people. The first, Junior had to guess, was the mustachioed man that people had been seeing around the gym. The educated guess that everyone had about the man was that he was some sort of personal trainer, or possibly a promoter. Seeing the man at ringside did nothing to suggest anything else.

The other presence with Hazel was a woman, who hadn't boxed at all. She was dressed cleanly, in a pantsuit that wasn't at all befitting of the situation at hand. Her long hair was too white for her appearance, and Junior had to wonder whether she was related to Ozpin at all.

But he couldn't focus on that when he had Taiyang to look after.

He glanced over at Taiyang and let one last quiet breath as he prepared himself to do or say just about anything to keep his friend calm and confident.

"This is it, Tai." Junior said, keeping his voice down so that nobody aside from James, Taiyang, and himself would be able to hear it. "You're going to go in there, and then you're going to do your absolute best. And no matter what, James and I are going to be here for you. And so will everyone else that came here with us."

"Right." James replied, doing his best to match Junior's volume and tone. "And no matter what, we're going to dinner later. Win or lose, this is happening."

Taiyang closed his eyes and nodded slowly. He didn't pick his head up so that he could look at James or Junior directly, and deep down, Junior supposed that he couldn't really blame Taiyang for that. The guy had to be more nervous about this than he or James were- he was the one that they'd put a lot of stakes in over the course of the last month or two.

But it was time.

"You think you can do this, Tai?" Junior asked, reaching out to pat his friend on the shoulder as gently as he could manage.

Taiyang nodded, he still didn't look up to see Junior.

It was the best he could hope for.

A quick glance up at the clock told Junior that they had one minute before Taiyang had to get up into the ring and finally face Hazel Rainart.

"You're going to do this." Junior said, pulling Taiyang in for a quick hug. "No matter what, we're proud of you Tai. Getting this far is nothing to sneeze at." He glanced back up at the clock. Thirty seconds.

Junior pulled away from Taiyang and stepped out of the way, letting the blonde take the first few nervous steps towards the ring before climbing up into it and facing his fate.

There was a rather long wait before either of the competitors were going to be able to do anything. Junior knew that pretty well, as he leaned against the side of the ring and listened along as the stakes were discussed and what the rules of the match were going to be before the two men that were going to be competing were introduced quickly.

When they introduced Taiyang as being from his gym, Junior couldn't help that significant swell of pride in his chest that arose as a result. This was the best advertisement that he could have ever hoped for. A quick glance around the area showed Junior that there was a reporter in house, and he made a mental note that he was probably going to have to end up talking to the man at some point to make clarifications on the proper spelling of both the name of his gym and to make sure that Taiyang's name was spelled properly.

In the back of his mind, Junior was sure to make a mental note to see whether or not he could also get Roman in on that conversation when it came around.

It was going to probably end up being the last official duty that Roman had at Xiong's before his contract officially ended and it became a matter of payment for the future and going forward.

In the ring, Taiyang was there, shifting nervously as he waited for the chance to fight to finally present itself to him. Opposite Taiyang, Hazel was standing there as calm as ever and even looking a little bit tired, but Junior didn't dare go speculating on what that could mean. He didn't want to see them in a situation where they were going to have to pretend as though they could actually learn something from Hazel's appearance alone.

If this man was truly as good as they said he was, then Junior didn't think for a second that he was going to be the type to tire out before getting into the ring at the end of the day. In fact, Junior told himself- it was entirely possible that Hazel Rainart was the kind of man that always looked tired as a result of genetics and nothing else.

Junior sincerely hoped that Taiyang wasn't going to get so confident about things that he ended up mistepping in the fight and dooming himself to failure that way.

Of course, judging by the way that Taiyang was standing while he waited, Junior couldn't help but seriously doubt that was going to be a problem at all. At the very least, he was sure that he could trust in Taiyang's ability to keep a relatively cool head about this. He wasn't going to go into this fight with anger, at least Junior didn't  _ think  _ that he was going to get angry about it.

If there was going to be any emotion that Taiyang ended up feeling through the entire match, Junior was absolutely, one hundred percent positive, that it was going to be a matter of fear rather than anger, or frustration, or anything else that Taiyang could possibly come up with.

He glanced over at James out of the corner of his eye and saw that his brother was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and looking like he was mostly confident. Junior doubted that it was genuine, if only because he knew that James tended to be a bit on the emotionally stunted side. At the same time, he was sure that James was making a mental point to avoid letting too much show for everyone else's sake.

His own included.

"Well?" Junior prompted his brother to say something, and only earned a very tired sigh as a response that Junior sincerely wished that he was able to feel surprised by from his brother.

"It's happening." James muttered after a while, with his frustration and exhaustion showing all too clear on his face. "Win or lose-"

"Right." Junior said before repeating James' words. "Win or lose."

They didn’t make him feel any more confident about what was to come.

The announcements finally finished, and Junior watched as Taiyang and Hazel both stalked towards each other and into the center of the ring before bumping their hands together in the traditional show of sportsmanship that had come to define the sport to Junior in some ways.

The two of them seemed to exchange a word, and Junior thought that he was able to see Hazel mouth the words 'good luck' just before he and Taiyang separated. Whether Taiyang had said anything himself or not was something that Junior didn't know.

All in all, he didn't expect that he was ever going to get to know how Taiyang had reacted for sure.

The two men separated and slid into their own corners for the time that they were going to have before it all started. Taiyang looked down at James and Junior with scared eyes, and soon enough the man was letting out a very heavy sounding sigh and turning again to face his opponent.

Almost too slowly, Taiyang raised his hands up in front of him. The stance that he chose was one that kept him guarding his head over everything else, and Junior supposed that Taiyang was using the training that he'd done against James and himself over the course of his time at Xiong's.

Hazel Rainart was tall, and taiyang was absolutely right to do whatever was in his power to keep his head safe from his opponent and avoid injury. Junior sure as hell didn't want to see Taiyang knocked out, and he definitely didn't want to have to cart anyone to the hospital because of a concussion.

The bell rang.

The fight began.

Taiyang didn't move in towards Hazel initially. Instead, he made the decision to move back as a direct counter to the other man's motions. Junior figured that Taiyang was just doing whatever he could to try and set a comfortable distance between himself and Hazel before the two finally decided to clash more directly.

If he had to guess, Taiyang was doing whatever he could in order to make sure that he had a good idea of how Hazel's reach was. The one thing that nothing could prepare them for was the length of someone's arms.

With someone of Hazel's size, Junior was sure that the guy had exceptional reach, but he also couldn't be too sure about it. However, that wasn't to say that it wasn't possible that the guy's arms weren't completely proportional.

But the good thing about it was that Taiyang was experienced enough in the ring that he was able to keep enough of a distance between himself and Hazel to keep himself from just walking into a punch face-first.

Taiyang threw a light jab in Hazel's direction as well, finding that neither of them were in the range of the other just yet. He edged his way in towards Hazel, little by little, and when the two of them were both absolutely certain that they were in range of each other, the punches that were thrown were nearly synchronized.

Both strikes did manage to land, the two men's arms brushing together in a way so that neither would have been able to somehow turn it all into a block. It wasn't a bad thing, Junior thought, but it was exceptionally good to know that was going on.

Taiyang's hit looked like it landed against one of Hazel's pectorals, while Hazel's struck higher, much closer to Taiyang's shoulder and neck. Junior tried to ignore the uncomfortable clench of his stomach at the sight. In the back of his mind, there was a constant current of everything that could have gone wrong with that hit.

_ Neck trauma, concussion, breaks, fractures, concussion, neck trauma, concussion, paralysis- _

He had to force those thoughts as far back as he could possibly manage before looking over at James to check what was going on with him. James was standing there with his brow furrowed and his hand held against his mouth in a closed first. Junior wouldn't have been surprised for a second about what could be going through his brother's mind in that moment.

If anyone knew the dangers of a strike like that, it was James and his glass jaw. James who got himself blown up in a war zone. James who had fractured one of his vertebrae during a bad parachute jump.

James glanced over at Junior out of the corner of his eye, and in the short moment where their eyes met, he just gestured back in Taiyang's direction as a reminder of what the were there for. Junior closed his eyes and nodded slowly, knowing that James was right about what he was saying.

And because of that, Junior forced himself to focus his attention back onto the ring where Hazel and Taiyang were still circling each other in combat and readying themselves to fight.

The two men were all too closely focused on each other, but they were both all too clearly playing the match out in the most passive manner that the two of them could manner. For a moment, Junior couldn't help but think that the entire thing was a little too defensive on both ends. If anything, he was sure that Taiyang's neck had to be aching from the hit, and Hazel was probably doing his best to see if he could make Taiyang tire.

If Junior was guessing correctly, that hit to the neck was going to be all that was needed to call the first round of the match for Hazel over Taiyang.

In the ring, Taiyang was looking a little tired and a little slow, but JUnior couldn't be sure how he wanted to read into it because of how that hit had landed. He shifted in towards Hazel, and Hazel understood what he was doing fast enough.

The man raised one hand high in front of him and held the other one a little bit lower. Taiyang tried to get through to the other man, but his punch was quickly cut off from one from Hazel. It was exact, and precise, and timed in a way so that Taiyang wouldn't have any way to block it. Based on how it had been thrown, Junior was sure that Hazel wasn't making a distinct attempt to make the hit land on Taiyang's head.

No, it looked like Hazel was trying to draw this out into a real competition.

But the fact that Hazel was timing his strikes with Taiyang's to try and make himself impossible to block- that was scary. That was the mark of someone that had done this far too many times and knew all too well what he was trying to achieve. It wasn't good, Junior thought to himself.

If this was going to be the pace of the match, slowed and timed and measured, he didn't know how Taiyang was actually going to be able to make it through.

He thought back to what James had said earlier when they'd been talking with Qrow- to a lot of people, and probably Hazel Rainart was included in that, Taiyang Xiao Long making it to the final round of his division was a fluke.

Seeing the way that this match was going, Junior couldn't help but worry that Taiyang was only managing to prove that suspicion to some people.

But, Junior hoped, it was also possible that people knew Hazel's game well enough to know that he had come in exclusively to win and because he was sure that he could make it happen.

The sound of a very hard hit landing on Hazel's chest snapped Junior back out of his thoughts and into reality for a moment  and back to the match that was playing out there in front of them.

Hazel took a step back away from Taiyang for a moment to recover, and a fast flexing told Junior that he man was fine. Taiyang's strike had registered, yes, but it wasn't going to be enough to slow Hazel down properly.

It was just a strike. It looked like was solid, it looked like it probably hurt, but it wasn't nearly enough to end it.

Taiyang and Hazel moved back in towards each other, and then it was Hazel who threw the next punch. It landed too hard against Taiyang's shoulder, and Junior couldn't help but roll his own in relative sympathy over how the hit had landed. In another world, he was sure that hite would have been enough to dislocate something.

The two moved back in towards each other, slow and steady as ever and then the two of them were throwing the last few punches that they were going to be able to get in before the bell rang and the two separated from their last few hits against each other.

Junior waited and prepared himself for Taiyang's arrival there at the ringside area that he and James had set up. To none of Junior's surprise whatsoever, Taiyang dropped into the stool that they'd set up and he looked completely exhausted and ready to sleep forever. There was sweat that not only made his bangs stick to his face, but it was also widespread enough to make Taiyang's clothing stick to his body.

In another world, Junior was sure that it would have almost been appetizing, and oh how he didn't like that  _ that _ was something that had swum up in his mind after seeing Taiyang like this.

James was quick at Taiyang's side, thrusting an open bottle into the man's hand and watching as Taiyang drank deeply from it. Junior couldn't help but thing that the man was probably going to feel like he needed to sleep for at least a century after all of this.

"So." James spoke up, his voice solid and low, but somehow surprisingly calm despite everything. "Look at me, Tai."

Taiyang groaned quietly and looked up into James' eyes. James blinked and nodded before raising a hand and holding two gloved fingers up in Taiyang's face. "Follow them." James commanded, and Taiyang did his best to follow James' fingers as he moved them from place to place around his face. Once James was satisfied, he dropped his hand down next to him again and looked over at Junior. "He's fine." James grumbled. "How are you feeling?"

"Painy." Taiyang groaned. "Shoulder hurts like a-"

"I figured." James said, not even giving Taiyang a chance to finish with what he'd said. "That was a particularly nasty hit."

Taiyang nodded slowly and his brow furrowed before he looked up to Junior. "What can I do with this?"

Junior swallowed hard, not sure whether or not there was a specific tip or some sort of advice that he could give to Taiyang that could actually work for all of this. In theory there was something, but Junior was having an exceptionally difficult time finding a way to make himself concentrate on it. With someone like Hazel who clearly knew his way around a ring much better than any of them did, it was hard to ever say what they could do.

"I don't know." Junior admitted, doing everything that he could to keep himself from chewing at his lower lip in nervousness. "I guess you just have to keep an eye on his movements-"

"Wow. Such great advice." Taiyang said sarcastically. "Thanks for that, Teddy."

Taiyang’s sarcasm managed to bite into Junior in a way that couldn’t be described as pleasant on any level. He hadn’t been expecting that sort of reaction out of the man, especially considering how Junior had just been trying to help and do what he could to be supportive towards his friend.

Junior grit his teeth a little bit harder than he should have and picked his head up so that he could get a good look at the ring. It was still clear for now, but that wasn’t going to last for long. Above all else, he needed for Taiyang to go in there ready for everything.

He had to force it to happen, but Junior did manage to relax enough so that he wasn’t just painfully clenching his teeth anymore. “Right.” Junior muttered before looking back to the clock and giving James one last look to see how his brother was doing.

James picked his head up and the expression that he shot in Junior’s direction didn’t read as bored as much as it did antsy.

Taiyang glared down at the canvas flooring in the ring like destroying it was somehow the only thing that mattered to him in that moment. The blonde bounced from foot to foot for a few seconds.

Realizing what he needed to do, Junior shot a hand out and let it land on Taiyang’s shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort his friend. “You’ve got this.” He finally said, keeping his voice quiet. “Just… watch your neck.”

Junior's request managed to earn a very strange look from James, but Taiyang seemed to take it well enough. He just pulled himself away from Junior and when the time came, he climbed back into the ring opposite the behemoth of a man that held his fate.

As for Junior, all that he could do was stand there by the sidelines and hold his breath in hopes that this was going to end well for anyone.


	69. Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang and Hazel: The Rest Of It

Taiyang received a strike to the side of the head which landed so loudly that the entire room seemed to go completely silent in the realization of what had just happened. It was only the second round of the match, but the tension had already risen high enough that the room was filled with nothing but a nervous electricity which crackled on every breath.    
  
For Roman, there wasn't much that made him feel like he was actually tied to the things that were going on around him. The biggest and strongest connection that he had was the way that Summer was clutching so harshly against his arm, and watching up at the ring with a horrified expression.    
  
"What-"   
  
"He's fine." Roman whispered to her, watching the way that Taiyang swayed and seemed to be having some difficulty in staying on his feet. Roman knew fully well that he was treading very closely along a lie, but it was all that he could think to say.    
  
What else  _ could _ he say? There wasn’t exactly anything that would say the truth, that was for sure. No good way to communicate that Taiyang had probably just lost the match then and there.    
  
"He doesn't look fine." Summer whispered, and deep down, Roman couldn't think of much to do other than agree with her. It looked bad, and Roman was almost willing to bet that there wasn't a single soul inside that gym that hadn't managed to hear the strike land.    
  
Maybe if it hadn't been so sudden he would have had a better thing to do or say to Summer. Maybe then he wouldn't be standing there with his mind absolutely buzzing for everything that could have just gone wrong.    
  
Maybe if it wasn't for the fact that Junior was standing there at ringside with a horrified expression. Maybe if James managed to look something other than his usual stoic self.   
  
Maybe if the Branwen Twins weren't mumbling something amongst themselves that Roman couldn't make out.    
  
It almost felt like the understand things, Roman would have to put his own brain in a rewind and see how the events changed in it. Theoretically that would be enough to put things back into context.   
  
Roman did what he could to detach himself from the steely grip that Summer had decided best belonged on his arm and wrapped his arms around himself, thinking back. Almost as quickly as he was away from her, Summer was back though, needing something to ground her.   
  
One of the things that he'd heard people talking about with regards to Taiyang's opponent was that he seemed like he'd be slow. Maybe that wasn't the case, or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they had managed to completely underestimate him.    
  
The first round had been a mess, but Taiyang had come back out of the ring in one piece. Roman had watched how he, James, and Junior had interacted in that short time at ringside. It hadn't lasted long. It had been just long enough for them to check up on Taiyang, make sure that he wasn't too chewed up, and to exchange some words.    
  
Whatever had been said, Junior had been  _ tense _ .    
  
Roman didn't know how he felt about the fact that he'd been able to see that from where he was. He and Junior were close, sure, but he'd thought that there had to be a little bit more separation between the two of them.    
  
But that wasn't what was important, Roman reminded himself.    
  
What was important was that Taiyang had only managed to be back in the ring for  barely 45 seconds before he'd ended up taking a punch to the jaw and flat on his back.    
  
And now, the blonde boxer was lying there with a referee leaned over him and trying to talk to him. James and Junior were standing at the ringside looking impossibly nervous but not wanting to get into the ring just in case it was decided that Taiyang wasn't in shape to be able to go back into a fight.    
  
As of that moment, Roman wasn't going to be betting on that being a possibility.    
  
There had to be some sort of time limit rule before someone was declared knocked out.    
  
Despite all of that, there did seem to be some silver linings about the situation. Taiyang did seem to be moving around, even if it was only a little bit, and slow and stunted. Roman couldn't hear it, but it sounded like Taiyang was doing his best to talk to the referee.   
  
The sound of a bell going off told Roman everything that he needed to know. The sight of Taiyang being escorted out of the ring and helped down the stairs only managed to cement it.   
  
Of the thousands upon thousands of thoughts and emotions that were flitting through Roman’s head, he wasn’t able to figure out which one won out. Maybe it was something akin to sadness. Worry for his friend. Maybe what Roman was feeling was regret.    
  
In the end, it was next to impossible for him to figure out just what he felt about the whole situation.    
  
The knowledge that Roman wasn't going to be able to go all the way up to the front of the room to help his friend nagged at the back of his mind all too harshly. Every instinct in Roman told him that he needed to do his best to be there for his friend, he needed to go in and see to it that Taiyang was going to be okay.    
  
Roman wished that he had even the slightest idea about what was going to be the worst threat to their night was going to be. No matter what, they were in a situation where they had a room booked at a restaurant. They still had to do something to be there for Raven's victory and celebrate. They needed to do all of that without risking losing Taiyang in the process or leaving the guy feeling like he'd been left out in the cold.    
  
Overall, that was the absolute last thing that Roman wanted to happen. He was confident in Junior at the very least, and Roman was sure that Summer was going to do anything in her power to keep Taiyang's spirits up. Despite all of that, there were too many things at stake that could make this all fall apart.    
  
Taiyang was going to end up being one of the most important things that night. Roman just hoped that everyone was going to have the sense to keep in line and do whatever they could to keep themselves from upsetting the man further than he needed to be.    


And they were going to have to try to do that in a way that didn’t end up upsetting or forgetting about Raven’s victory in the process.

The night ahead was probably going to be awful, if that was any indicator.

Roman swallowed hard and watched the area by the ring, where James and Junior were doing their absolute best to collect Taiyang before the man could get a chance to fall apart or even injure himself further. The thought danced at the back of Roman's head that told him that the best thing that he could do for Taiyang was go to the table and begin clearing it off and make sure that there was food set aside for the man to eat. Unless he wasn't going to be able to get food into his system without feeling sick.    
  
Summer reached back over to him, and Roman was dragged back to earth rather cruelly by the tight grip on his arm. He swallowed hard and looked over at his friend, and she was looking up at him with wide, sad, silver eyes.    
  
"Ro?" She asked, keeping her voice quiet. "You seem-"   
  
"Worried?" Roman asked, worrying his lower lip as he looked back to Taiyang. "I am."   
  
"It's going to be okay." Summer said quietly in the best reassurance that it seemed she could have possibly given anyone in that moment. "We're all worried about him. But we have to be there for him."   
  
"We will be." Roman whispered back to his friend. The fact that she was going to be able to hear him was a good thing, Roman thought to himself. It meant that he was going to have at least the slightest amount of clarity in the situation. There were people shuffling away from the ringside, some already going to collect their things, all while the man that had been announcing over the course of the day was standing up in the ring and talking to the victor.    
  
If Roman knew how much longer they were going to have to be there that day, then that would have made things a lot easier.    
  
But he didn't.    
  
"We should get back to the table." Roman said, and Summer nodded along before squeezing his arm once more. She pulled away from him and turned slowly, and after a moment of collecting himself Roman did what he could to follow after his friend and start getting things ready for Taiyang's arrival.    
  
When Roman and Summer reached the table, the Branwen twins were already there and doing their part to improve things. It looked like Raven had already taken the liberty of clearing their table off, while Qrow was making sure that any of the trash that had accumulated over the course of the day (and it was ultimately much more trash than Roman ever would have liked seeing) was gotten rid of.    
  
Roman and Summer joined in quickly enough, and when one of the three that hadn't been there finally arrived, it was James, and he was alone.    
  
Almost immediately at the realization that James was there to talk to them about what was going on, everyone's heads snapped up to watch him. James seemed to stiffen quite a bit at the realization that be was being watched before letting out a quiet sigh and letting himself relax just slightly. He let out a quiet sigh, and for a second Roman was sure that he actually saw a dejected look flit across James' face.    
  
The man stood there, looking between everyone at the table before opening his mouth just slightly to say something to the others. Once he realized that there was absolutely no easy way to deal with this situation, James' mouth just clamped back shut. He shook his head and just moved to the side of the table to find the small backpack that he'd carried for whatever it was that James carried with him.    
  
Roman watched as James quickly unzipped it, reaching in for a bottle of something.    
  
Silence lingered between all of them, and then when one of them spoke up, it was Qrow that decided to try and break the quiet between them all and James.    
  
"How is he?" Qrow asked, his voice husky as ever, but also surprisingly gentle.    
  
James swallowed hard and stared down into his bag. From where he was standing, Roman could practically see the way that the wheels were turning in James' head. The man was clearly searching for anything that he could possibly say to assuage the situation. And Roman was absolutely certain that there was no way for James to correct this in a way that felt even remotely sensitive to the situation at hand.    
  
Finally, he spoke.    
  
"Not good." James mumbled. "It may be a little bit before Junior and him come over." He paused and swallowed hard. "I don't know what to tell you all or how to prepare yourselves for what is going to come up later." Even for James, Roman couldn't help but think that every word sounded fairly stilted and over-practiced on at least some level. "He's not doing well. And It isn’t because of that punch."    
  
"Well," Qrow mumbled, stepping up to James' side. "I think we're all expecting that."   
  
James didn't say anything to Qrow. He just nodded slowly and stared down at his own hands. Roman almost felt like his stomach was doing cartwheels. There was a moment where Roman and Raven's eyes met in a silent conversation, but it didn't do anything to make Roman feel better about things. He paused for a long while before finally taking the step so that he could stand next to the woman.    
  
"Do you still want to do pizza?" Roman asked, keeping his voice down. "Because if-"   
  
Raven picked her head up and looked around the arena for Junior and frowned rather obviously. "I don't know." She said finally. "If it's going to make him feel worse-"   
  
"That's why I'm asking." Roman whispered. "Don't want to hurt him, but I don't think anyone wants you to feel like you're getting put out for him. Or vice versa."    
  
"I think I'll be fine." Raven said quietly with a sigh. "If he doesn't mind doing pizza, I think it might be best if it's not done in public or at the gym."   
  
That was a deeply interesting request, Roman thought to himself. He had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to go forward. However, it was entirely possible that they order pizza out and had it all at someone's home. Maybe at James and Junior's apartment if they were feeling up to it.    
  
If not, Roman supposed he had his own space. And that wasn't even considering the possibility for what could happen if Raven volunteered her and Taiyang's home.   
  
Ultimately, Roman thought to himself, it was for the best to do his best to play things safe and let things go as they may. To be going betting on someone being willing to offer up a space for them to use was silly, and more than a bit presumptuous. For now, all that he could do was wait and hang tight.    
  
If he was lucky, the amount of damage control that needed to be done would end up being minimal.    
  
He swallowed hard and glanced back over at Raven, letting out a quiet sigh before speaking up once again. “Should we wait on it?”   
  
“Probably.” Raven said, frowning as she watched Taiyang get checked out by one of the many medics that were at Green’s gym that day. “I just want him to be okay.”    
  
Roman felt something prickle painfully at his eyes, and when he spoke up he realized that his voice was much more hoarse than he would have liked otherwise. “Right.” He said quietly. “I think we all do.”    
  
"Right." Raven repeated after him, seeming almost as worried as Roman did. For that moment, Roman wanted to do absolutely nothing more than go ahead and slip away to a safe place. After spending so much of the day looking after others and trying to keep his friends calm, it was all starting to crash down on him.    
  
And he couldn't shake the thought at the back of his mind that he told him that he was being absolutely selfish for being upset now.    
  
Roman swallowed hard and looked up at James to see whether or not the man was doing anything in particular. He was just doing his best to make sure that he had everything that he could have possibly needed for the day that was coming after this.    
  
Looking around the table and at everyone that was there, Roman couldn't do anything but think that they all looked heartbroken, in their own ways. Despite the fact that they were bringing home a victory, this loss was somehow much heavier than everything else.    
  
And worst of all, Taiyang and Junior were still yet to make a reappearance there at their table. That shouldn't have been nearly as worrying or as heavy as it was, but Roman was sure that it only managed to drag them all down further.    
  
James looked between everyone there, and Roman couldn't help but want to reach out to his friend and offer some sort of condolence. But at the same time, knowing how James was and how private he tended to be, Roman was sure that it wouldn't have been for the best if he went ahead and tried to do that sort of thing. That wasn't how James was. He wasn't emotionally open to others.    
  
Doing anything now would probably only end up with Roman getting pushed out.    
  
There was a long silence, and James opened his mouth to say something before breathing out tired words. "Can you all do what you can to get thins out to the cars so that we can leave?" James asked, keeping his voice down. "I know that you'd all probably want the chance to relax, but..."   
  
"We've got it, James." Qrow said, sounding almost too confident. "Just take care of him."   
  
James smiled softly at Qrow, the sort of pained, exhausted, forced on smile that reminded Roman of some sort of politician, or maybe a doll. It was all fabricated.    
  
James slipped away from them, and Roman was at a loss for what he was supposed to do at that point. He hesitated for too long a time before he picked up the cooler and turned to head towards the door. Roman couldn't help but think that it was probably for the best if he found a grassy spot and emptied out everything that had melted in the cooler there. Maybe that would be enough to make sure that there was no mess to clean up later.    
  
Human messes seemed like they would be a constant though, all things considered.    
  
The parking lot at Green's was bustling, with there being plenty of groups gathered by cars and talking. All of them seemed to be groups that had come together for the sake of the tournament. Winners and losers alike. Roman tried to ignore the groupings, and he made his way over to the edge of the parking lot where he took the time to dump out the water in his cooler.    
  
For the time that he spent there, Roman couldn't help but begin to space out and focus on other things. He wanted to be there inside, helping Taiyang and making sure that the man wasn't going to be going home depressed or sad. He wanted to be there for a friend and give him a hug.    
  
But that wasn't possible.    
  
Roman was first snapped out of his own mind by the sound of Qrow's voice there behind him.    
  
"Hey," Qrow said, sounding a little too calm. Almost like he was somehow managing to leak all of the sadness out of his voice bit by bit. Despite all of that, Qrow sounded relatively level headed. "Doing okay?"   
  
Roman paused, trying to find the best words before standing up and pushing his hair out of his face. Most of the hold that had been there that morning was completely gone, and Roman felt tired and sloppy because of it. He sighed heavily before finally forcing an answer out for Qrow. "I'm doing by best," He said quietly. "Feeling a little down."    
  
"I think we all are." Qrow said with a frown. "I mean, Raven should be feeling better, but-"    
  
"Do you think that you could have beaten him?" The question slipped out of Roman's mouth before he could really even think about it. "Hazel, I mean. Do you think that you could have beaten him?"   
  
"I don't know." Qrow muttered with a slight shrug. "Nobody saw things going the way that they did, I don't think. Not even James and Junior."    
  
"Has Tai.."   
  
"Nah." Qrow sighed. "He'll come around eventually. Just give him space for a bit. If there’s one thing I know about Taiyang, it's that he always bounces back. Always."   
  
It was very much exactly what Roman didn’t want to hear. He wanted to know that there was some way to make the universe make just a little bit more sense. Yes, it was true that Taiyang would come around eventually, and that soon they were going to be able to move on with their lives. None of that was something that could be denied.    
  
It was just going to be incredibly difficult for the time being.    
  
The table seemed to manage to slip into an almost comfortable sort of silence for the little while that they had together. At one point James nudged Raven and dragged her off for some reason, and Roman was quick to realize that it had to do with her needing to talk to some sort of reporter. All good for press, Roman thought to himself.    
  
Even Taiyang's loss was technically good for business, considering that any competitor making it to the finals of a tournament was a good thing.    
  
Roman just focused on his work for as long as he needed to, and eventually he found himself being informed that they were ready to leave. James volunteered his and Junior's home for them to gather in for a while, and so Roman was sure to call in a food order before they left.    
  
It wasn't enough.    
  
When the Xiong's caravan finally left Green's, Roman drove alone and picked up the pizza on the way to the apartment building that was going to be their headquarters for the rest of the night.    
  
He hadn't managed to see Taiyang in person since the end of the match, and that was something that left him worried.    
  
Roman just repeated Qrow's words in his head in the hopes that it would help him relax.    
  
It didn't quite work.    
  
At least the pizza smelled good. 


	70. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the tournament, everyone regroups. Roman makes bad jokes.

The apartment was too crowded, and Junior couldn't help but feel a little bit more than annoyed by it all. There were a few upsides to the situation, though, Junior supposed. While they had to tread carefully with regards to some things, that was fine. The thing that mattered was that they were together and taking the chance to  _ relax _ after a stressful day. 

For that reason, Junior and James had decided that there was no harm in letting people use their shower and clean off after such a long day.

It had seemed like the boxers would need it, and when Taiyang took a little longer in his shower than would have been expected, Junior didn't see anything wrong with all of it. The guy needed a chance to relax, and everyone seemed to be taking the time that they had as downtime until they were happy.

"Hey." Roman said, sliding into the kitchen beside Junior and leaning against the counter. Junior picked his head up and looked over at the other man. He couldn't help but feel a little unsure of how to feel, but Roman was always a welcome enough addition to his life.

"Hi." Junior said quietly, not quite able to put a smile onto his face. Roman seemed like he was a bit tired himself, but he wasn't showing it so much. If anything, Junior was sure that Roman had managed to have one of the easiest days for someone at Xiong's. It was a good thing, he thought.

At least someone wasn't feeling completely beaten down.

"How're you feeling?" Roman asked, keeping his voice down. Junior was certain that it was something that Roman was doing more for the benefits of others than for them, but Junior couldn't help but find himself feeling comforted by the quiet himself. There was a lot that could be said for finally having space and quiet after a long day at a tournament.

For the first time that day, or at least since his and Roman's rendezvous in his car, Junior felt like he was able to breathe again.

"Tired." Junior admitted. He'd managed to have a slice of pizza, but it had been next to impossible for him to actually enjoy all of it. Mostly, he was at a point where he was just looking forward to being able to climb into bed for the night. Junior wanted the chance to get off of his aching feet, lie down, and find himself in a place where nothing could bother him.

"Me too." Roman said, and Junior couldn't help but think that he definitely looked the part. It wasn't a bad thing by any means, Junior thought to himself. Roman looking like he wasn't completely made up was a rarity, and Junior found himself enjoying the look every time. Roman forced on a weak looking smile. "I'm not looking forward to driving home tonight, I'll tell you that."

Whether or not Junior thought that Roman was trying to make some sort of play towards the two of them spending the night together. If he was, Junior didn't know that he was exactly in the mood where curling up with another person would be able to do much for him on a personal level. Getting sleep sounded nice, though. At the very least, he was sure that Roman would be happy to share the space. Maybe he wanted to sleep too. 

But for Junior, a large part of him was mostly just yearning for the chance to spend a quiet night at home with his brother once everyone left. And even then, he was sure that James wasn't going to be in the mood to talk much once the house emptied out.

"I just want to sleep, really." Junior admitted finally. "It's been a long day."

"It has." Roman admitted. "It's definitely been a long time since I've been so busy, and I don't think that I really did anything myself." For a moment, Junior couldn't help but think that Roman's eyes looked sad and even dull as he sat there. If he were a better man, Junior was sure that he would have done something to reach out for his lover to try and begin solving things.

None of it was every going to be enough.

But still, Junior couldn't just let this sit without doing anything to go ahead and try to comfort Roman through everything.

"You know," Junior began quietly. "You did a lot more for us than you realized today. I don't think that things would have been able to go anywhere near as smoothly as they did if it wasn't for you being there to help us out."

Roman blinked and looked up at him. Junior smiled at him, though it still managed to feel fairly forced. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean," Junior began, "is that without you James and I would have been stuck running around a lot more than we already were today. I don’t think that we could have handled it without you. You did us a great favor by just being there, and besides-"

Junior picked his head up and looked over to the living room, where Raven and Summer were sitting curled together on the couch, talking quietly about something.

Qrow and James, Junior noted, were conspicuously absent.

He had to fight off the urge to get distracted by  _ that  _ little detail or read into it too much. Junior swallowed and turned his attention back onto Roman, taking the moment to stare into the man’s emerald green eyes and find comfort there.

It came surprisingly easy. “I think that everyone’s glad that we were able to have you. Good for morale.”

Roman smiled, and he even barked out a laugh at the word. " _ Morale _ ," he joked. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

All at once, Junior felt all of the blood in his body seemingly rush to his face, which became uncomfortably hot with next to no effort at all. Of all the things that Roman could have said, that was very low on the list of things that Junior thought that the man should have said.

Regardless, it was out in the open and Junior knew that he was going to have to come up with a response for it eventually.

Maybe once his brain rebooted.

Or once the apocalypse happened.

Whichever came first.

Junior really wasn't sure which one of those possibilities was going to end up coming true first, and deep down, he didn't think that he really wanted to know. For a moment, he'd been foolish enough to think that they were past the 'shameless sex jokes at every chance' stage in the relationship, but apparently that wasn't correct.

He opened his mouth, trying hard to find something that he could say to Roman but only managed to draw blanks for possibilities. How was he supposed to be able to respond to this?

Roman blinked up at him and raised a ginger eyebrow in confusion, leaning in towards Junior slightly before speaking up. "Baby Bear?" He asked, his voice taking on a tone of gentility that Junior couldn't help but feel almost sounded wrong on Roman, but simultaneously it sounded absolutely purpose. "You okay?"

Junior swallowed hard and stared down at Roman, his heart beating hard against his chest and tried as hard as he could to come up with something that he could say to the other man to clear up what was happening. Finally, he found his words and Junior was able to speak.

"I meant being there for everyone." He said quietly. "I meant that it was good because you were able to help keep everyone's spirits up-"

"Ah." Roman responded, standing up straight. "So I suppose that it would be safe to say that I misread this situation?"

"Yes, Roman." Junior grumbled as he turned towards the fridge and pulled it open, seeking something inside to drink. "You misread it."

"Well-" Roman began, plastering on his usual bright smile and taking the opportunity to brush his red hair out of his face. "Either way, you still owe me a date, so I don't think that it's such a problem."

For some reason, Junior found it to be incredibly difficult for him to come up with a response to Roman. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder how much of this had to do with his rather obvious exhaustion. That had to be what it was, Junior thought to himself as he found a bottle of beer that had been stared away in the fridge at some point.

That had to be  it.

"I guess you and I do still have a date." Junior admitted as he pulled out a second bottle, offering it to Roman, who raised a slender hand to decline politely. Shrugging, Junior stashed the bottle back away where it had come from before turning to face Roman properly. "Though it would help to know when you're available?"

Roman hummed quietly, his eyes going half lidded for a moment as he leaned further back against Junior's counters in an obvious ploy to make himself comfortable. "Well," he began, his voice quiet. "I suppose that I don't have much to do for the next few days. This one really annoying client I had just dumped me, so I think that's cleared up my schedule a little bit." He was smiling, a little too coyly and Junior couldn't help but think that there was an absolute undercurrent of playfulness that he didn't mind at all.

"I see."  Junior answered, his voice as serious as he could manage. "I'm sure that if you just got fired you must have done something wrong."

"Me?" Roman asked, gesturing to himself with mocked offense. "I never could have done such a thing."

"Well you know," Junior spoke up, keeping his volume low so that he could play along with Roman's game for the little while that the two of them were spending there in the kitchen. "I hear that it's a pretty big deal for someone to end up sleeping with their employer."

Roman laughed, and Junior all but felt his heart melt in his chest at the sound and the way that Roman's eyes and nose crinkled with happiness. This was exactly what he loved about the man, Junior thought to himself. This sort of playfulness was exactly what made him feel like he wanted to keep coming back to Roman emotionally. Even if it meant making wholly inappropriate jokes, he was glad to have the man there.

The only difference was that this time both of them were in on the joke rather than it being sprung by surprise.

"Well," Roman said, stepping into Junior's space and looking up at him with his eyes half lidded. He picked a hand up and let it rest on Junior's shoulder before letting his fingers dance up to the nape of Junior's neck to play with the short hairs.

Junior had to do everything in his power to suppress the urge to shiver over the sensation.

"Well?""

"Well," Roman continued finally, still smiling wide and bright. "I was just thinking that maybe I'm not cut out for the world of sports." He leaned in towards Junior just slightly, letting his nose brush against Junior's chin, even though the beard hair that Junior was sure scratched against the redhead's skin. "Although, I will probably miss some parts of it."

"Really now?" Junior asked, letting his arms wrap around Roman's waist. "And what parts will you miss?"

"Well," Roman began. "I'll miss checking out the coach, for one."

"Which coach?"

"The handsome one." Roman laughed. "The tall one that reminds me of a teddy bear. Not the grumpy one."

Junior raised an eyebrow, feeling at least partially curious about whether or not that was actually what Roman thought of him. He didn't let the thought linger for too long though, if only because there was very little benefit that could be gained from bringing up the topic.

He stared down at the redheaded man that was in front of him, and there were a thousand ideas that went through Junior's head about how he was supposed to be able to go ahead and deal with Roman. He wanted to ask for him to stay the night, the wrap his arms around him, to pull him into a kiss and ask Roman never to leave.

None of those things felt like they would be sufficient to be able to sum up everything that Junior wanted.

So in the end, he just let his hand move so that it rested in the small of Roman's back as the two of them stood so close to each other. Junior let himself soak in the warmth of Roman's touch, he let himself bask in his presence. There was a certain sort of perfection that could be found there.

"I'd be happy to stay by you." Junior finally mumbled, knowing perfectly well that he didn't actually manage to communicate along the same lines that he and Roman had been following for most of the night already. "Regardless of what has and hasn't been considered appropriate since the two of us met."

"I'm glad." Roman said, and it took Junior just a moment to realize that the man's voice was much more hoarse than it should have been. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Junior thought to himself. If anything, it just meant that the two of them were both feeling equally invested in everything that was going on.

That was a good thing. There was no way that could start becoming a bad thing, not in Junior's view at least.

Junior swallowed hard and picked his head up, knowing fully well that there had to be something that he could have been doing which would have been much more productive than just standing there with Roman. He knew that Taiyang was still somewhere in the apartment, and he needed to be able to be there for his friend once Taiyang wanted him. He needed to keep in mind the fact that there was food that was going to inevitably go cold.

And that wasn't even considering the fact that at some point most of their guests were going to have to leave. Once that happened, Junior figured that just about anything was fair game. Maybe then he'd be able to ask for Roman to stay.

"What is it?" Roman asked, finally peeling his body away from Junior's almost as though he'd just managed to remember himself. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What?" Junior asked, unable to help but feel at least a little bit taken aback by Roman's question. He wasn't a fan of what it entailed, and so Junior was content to do anything in his power to dissuade Roman from the thought that he had somehow done something wrong. "No, of course not." Junior took a breath and let out a light sigh. He knew that he had broken his eye contact with Roman and was now staring off to the side. "I was just thinking that there were still things to keep track of."

"Like..."

"Yeah," Junior said, not giving Roman a chance to finish. "It's just a responsibility to everyone else."

"Right." Roman said, flashing his most confident smile as he took another step or two away from Junior for the time being. Junior watched his every moment, and felt something painful clench in his chest when he watched Roman lean out of the kitchen just slightly.

Roman lingered there in the doorway, uttering a few words that Junior couldn't quite make out to Summer. After a minute, he slipped back in and looked up at Junior for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh and beginning to explain himself, just for a little while.

"Tai's out of his shower." Roman said, keeping his voice down as much as he could. "Apparently Raven decided to drag him off to your room with some food so that the two of them could talk."

Junior's stomach twisted uncomfortably, and it only served to leave Junior wondering whether or not there was something that he could have done for Taiyang. Ultimately, Junior couldn't think of anything that he could have provided in particular that Raven wasn't already. It wasn't as though he hadn't spent a significant time at Green's doing what he could to comfort Taiyang before they'd even left.

It was just that now, after everything had happened, he couldn't help but feel like he needed to be there for his friend.

Roman rested a gentle hand on top of Junior's and Junior managed to let out a quiet sigh as he relaxed just slightly underneath Roman's touch. It wasn't ideal by any means, but this was a chance for him to relax at least a little bit and begin to make sense of things. Any sort of comfort was welcome.

"What is it?" Junior asked, keeping his voice down even still. "Is-"

"Relax." Roman said, keeping his voice as gentle as he could manage while the two of them stood there together. "He's being taken care of."

"And?"

"And now I think that it's probably for the best if someone is here trying to look out for yo, Baby bear." Roman was staring up at him with so much love and obvious intent in his eyes that it was enough to keep Junior from knowing what he wanted to do. Junior swallowed but was unable to swallow his nervousness as the two of them stood there together.

He'd been under the impression that he and Roman had managed to comfort each other already that day.

"I'm okay." Junior finally whispered, leaning in and wrapping his arms around Roman so that he could lean in and rest his chin on top of Roman's head. Junior let his eyes slip shut, and he did everything that he could to just engross himself in Roman and everything that was Roman. "I'm okay."

Junior wished that he had anything better that he could have said to Roman, but he also fully suspected that this was as far as they were going to be able to manage. Eventually he was going to get his chance to talk to Taiyang about things, and when that happened, Junior would do everything in his power to help his friend.

“I believe you.” Roman whispered. From where he was standing, Junior was vaguely able to make out the soft motion of Roman’s lips against his neck, and the heat of his breathing. It shouldn't have been anywhere near as comfortable as it was, and yet Junior found himself wanting to drown in the sensation of being so close to another people.

In a way, this was like a small slice of heaven that Junior was able to cling on to. It was the result of a day that had managed to stretch on for far too long, and all with good reasons. It was a chance where he could breathe again.

Junior didn't know how long the two of them stood together like that. Eventually they managed to separate from each other for a little while. The two of them finally took the chance to get something to eat out of the two mostly empty pizza boxes that had been brought to the apartment earlier in the night. With everything collected, Junior and Roman finally let themselves go out to be able to exist with the others.

Already in the living room,  Summer, Taiyang, and Raven were all curled up together. Taiyang looked exhausted, and his eyes were puffy like he'd been crying. If it wasn't for the fact that they all knew that Taiyang had been in the shower and the way that the man's yellow hair was sticking to his forehead, Junior didn't think that he would have realized it.

Taiyang looked up at the two of them though, and his eyes seemed to be at the very least hopeful.

"Hey." Junior greeted him, deciding to kepe his voice a little bit more quiet than it strictly needed to be. "Have you eaten?"

Taiyang nodded slowly. Junior was willing to think that Taiyang had in fact managed to eat something, but there was a part of him that told him that Taiyang had only managed to attempt to eat something that day. Junior figured that was probably about the best that he could hope for out of his friend for the time being. Things were going to be complicated for a little while.

"If you need anything, just ask." Junior said quietly, because that was the only way that he was going to be able to be able to keep things going for a little while. "You know that we're all here for you."

"Thanks, Junior." Taiyang said. The man's face twisted and contorted, and it looked like he was doing his best to force on a smile for Junior. It wasn't a convincing one, but the fact that there was at least an attempt being made then that was a good thing. It meant that Taiyang was at the very least in a place where he was able to interact with the rest of the world.

"It's no problem at all." Junior said, smiling softly over at Taiyang before just allowing himself to leaning back into the couch and relaxing there. He rested the plate that he'd taken on his leg and took the time to breathe. Junior knew that there was so much that he could do for himself that would be better, but it wasn't enough to make him relax at all. Maybe this was just something that he was going to need some time to be able to get past.

A comfortable quiet settled, and Junior watched as Roman sat down on the bed and he leaned back into his own position. He had decided to fold himself in next to Summer, and Summer was smiling at the fact that she was being cuddled in by both Tayaing and Roman both.

Junior couldn't think of anything else that he could say for that day, and so he was happy to just soak in the quiet for the time being. Eventually everyone else was going to go home, and when that happened, Junior was sure that it was going to be fine. James and Qrow had decided to make themselves  at home, and the fact that the two of them had decided to slip away from the rest of the group for the time being was something that Junior was almost bothered by.

But at the same time, it brought a certain sort of peace to them.

Time passed by, hour by hour, until Taiyang finally stepped up and made the request to talk. Junior looked to the others, put on his most reassuring smile, and then slipped off to his own bedroom so that he could talk to Taiyang one on one.


	71. Breathing Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and Taiyang clear the air.

Taiyang made himself comfortable on Junior's bed. He sat there cross legged, and pulled one of Junior's pillows in close to himself for a hug in an attempt to calm himself. Junior normally would have protested against it, but this was a time where Taiyang needed him, or at least any comfort he could give. So all of Junior’s discomforts went off to the side for a later time. For now, what he needed to do was about make sure that his friend was okay.

"Hey, Tai." Junior greeted his friend, taking the chance to lower himself down to his friend's side on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Taiyang looked down at the pillow, smoothing his thumbs over the soft fabric of the pillowcase like he thought that was going to enough to help him relax. Perhaps it was, but Junior couldn’t be too sure. Mostly, he had his doubts that he would be able to help Taiyang at all. If Taiyang wanted to go petting his pillow, then Junior didn’t have a right to complain and he knew it.

Taiyang though, he looked upset. He shrugged and looked away from Junior like he thought that the world could end if he tried to be there for Taiyang too much. That would only manage to put Taiyang in an awkward situation, or he'd end up pushing the blonde along faster than he needed to be.

"I don't know." Taiyang finally said, his voice quiet and half broken. "It's kind of like the world has stopped, but..."

"I understand." Junior answered, letting his volume drop a little bit. ""Do you think that you're going to be okay?"

Taiyang blinked and stared off into space. "I don't know." He said finally, keeping his voice down for the little bit. while they sat there. "I just feel really shitty. I screwed up."

"Nobody blames you for it."

"I know."

"I mean, it, Tai."

"I know." Taiyang breathed, squeezing his blue eyes shut. "I just don't really know how I'm supposed to be able to keep on acting like everything is fine."

"Nobody is asking you to do that."

Taiyang stared down at his own hands, disbelief written clearly across his face and all that it managed to do was make Junior’s heart ache. No matter how many times he told Taiyang the truth, which was that nobody blamed him for anything, he didn’t know if it would ever sink in.

But, a quiet rational voice in the back of Junior’s mind told him, it was also possible that things were just difficult right now because the wound was still fresh. Give Taiyang time, and eventually he was going to be able to get past anything. That was all that needed to be done, and Junior wanted to be able to believe in it.

“It’s hard.” Taiyang finally said, his voice all too quiet and broken. Junior hesitated a moment, weighing the question of what was going to be the right or the wrong way to go about this. Deciding that he knew what to do, Junior placed an open palm against Taiyang’s back and began to rub slow circles into it.

“I know.” Junior whispered, feeling a slight flash of relief when he realized that Taiyang was beginning to relax under his touch. “It’s okay.”

“Is it?”

“It is.” Junior said, sighing quietly. “No matter what, we're coming out on top." He paused, thinking hard and then was quick to continue the line of thought that he was on already. "The financial situation is looking better for us already, and we're going to be able to get more help if we think that we need it. You've helped to get the gym some recognition, and we're proud of you. No matter what, we're very proud of you Tai."

Taiyang nodded, and he didn't look convinced. That didn't surprise Junior even still. Fresh wound, he reminded himself. The blonde was sitting there silent, and he looked exhausted. Junior was tempted to offer Taiyang his bed for the night so that he would have a place to relax. Junior would be sure to regret that later if he did, but Taiyang was what was most important.

And if what Tai needed was quiet and a chance to relax, then Junior was willing to offer whatever he was able to in order to make his friend happier and more comfortable.

The two of them sat there for a while, and the entire time Junior was sure not to cease the contact between himself and Taiyang. THe other man was managing to relax more and more with every second, and for Junior that was all that he could have wanted.

It was a silence that stretched on for a while. Junior wanted to be able to speak up and say something else to his friend, but the least that he could do for Tai was give him space to figure things out. When Taiyang needed something or wanted to say something, then Junior was sure that Taiyang was going to tell him.

And eventually, after close to thirty minutes of the two of them sitting there in silence, Taiyang spoke up and his voice was broken and hurt. "Do you think I could win the next one?"

Junior blinked, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit blindsided by the question. That was on the top of the list of things that  he couldn't have expected out of his friend. It was a little bit early for them to be thinking about what was going to come down the line, but Junior couldn't help but be pleased with it. For a while he was going to have Taiyang under his wing, it seemed.

He was always going to value having his friends there going to Xiong's and dammit he loved being there for his friends too. They were good people. Junior was always going to be confident in that- despite all of the changes that they went through, and everything that happened at the gym was something that Junior could be happy for.

Going forward, the only things that Junior was confident about was that they were going to have more people on Team Xiong. Who was going to be on that team was a question still, and whether or not they would be in the same space was a question. But for now, Junior was able to give Taiyang answers that were wary and nervous at best.

"If you think that you want to go in and do that again?" Junior asked, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to make whatever he was trying to do or say seem more meaningful. "Yeah," He cracked a smile and finally moved his hand away from Taiyang to give his friend just a little bit more space. "I think that you could do better."

"You mean that?" Taiyang asked quietly. "Because-"

"You'd have more time to train, for one." Junior said, twisting so that he could face his friend and look Taiyang in the eyes for a little while. "Which means that you would be a bit better equipped before you went into the ring with someone like Hazel." It wasn't that much, but Junior was sure that he could even go further with the things that he could offer for comfort. "Who knows, the guy might not even be in this circuit by then. Might move up to bigger and better things, and then it'll be an open field."

"Could retire." Taiyang finally laughed, his shoulders shaking a little bit as he relaxed. "You really think that I'd be able to do it?"

"I do." Junior said with a wide smile. He knew that it probably wasn't appropriate, but it was the very least that he could do for Taiyang. "You did really well Tai, regardless of how it all ended. I'm proud of you. James is too, and Summer, and Raven, and I know for a fact that Roman is even proud of you."

Taiyang let out a sigh so heavy that it sounded like it had been held forever. He leaned forward and tried to relax into his own arms in an attempt to make himself more at home. "So you aren't joking?"

"I'm not." Junior answered, keeping his voice as soft as he was able to manage for the time being. "I have absolutely no reason to lie to you about these things. You're one of my best friends, Taiyang. I mean that. And I'm always happy to have you around."

Taiyang nodded and shifted slightly in his seat, relaxing just slightly as he shifted on Junior's bed once more. "Thanks, Junior."

"Have you eaten?" Junior asked. It was a bad change of topic, but it was all that he could do to help Taiyang at this point. "I hear that there's grease and beer in the kitchen if you want it?"

"Pepperoni?"

"With peppers." Junior said quietly. "Raven's request. C'mon, let's get you something."

Taiyang nodded and forced himself up to his feet. He took a moment to raise his hands up to his face so that he could just brush away any tears that had been beginning to form in his eyes. There was a long minute where they waited, and Junior decided to stand back so that Taiyang could lead the way out of the room so that the two of them could go ahead and join the others.

When they slipped out, the living room was filled with people still, all that had decided to be as quiet as they could manage. On the TV, there was some bad movie that Junior had assumed that one of the Branwen twins had chosen (When it came to their taste in movies, it was about a fifty-fifty shot of it being good, Junior had learned that long ago.)

A couple of heads turned in acknowledgement of their arrival, but nobody said anything about it. Junior was glad for it, and he managed to shoot Roman a weak smile as the two of them slipped off to the kitchen where it looked like the others had set some food aside from Taiyang so that he was sure to have something to eat. Inside of one of the pizza boxes, someone had taken the time to write a sweet message telling Tai that they loved him.

And sitting there on a place beside the box of pizza was some of the leftover treats that Summer had made for them all.

All in all, it was a deeply sweet action on the part of the people that were there. They were both lucky to have them all there for them. Junior was sure that was something that he was never going to be able to forget- the others were great to them and he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Taiyang was quick to grab up a plate and begin to load it high with food. Junior stayed out of the way and leaned against one of the counters. The kitchen was far too small for two people to use, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just meant that they were close. They all cared about each other.

Junior didn't want to be wrapped up in people that he couldn't share his postage stamp of a kitchen with without wanting to rip his hair out.

"Beer?" Junior offered his friend, only to get a smiling answer. Junior opened the fridge and removed the last bottle that was there before handing it off to Taiyang. The two of them lingered there in the kitchen for a little bit longer than they strictly needed to before heading out to the living room to join the others.

Unsurprisingly, Taiyang squeezed himself down onto the space between raven and Summer on the couch, and that was a good thing. As for Junior, he cast a quick glance in Roman's direction before realizing that there wasn't much left in the way of seating. Because of that, Junior was content to sink down to the floor beside his friend and relax there because it was all that he could do without making the others have to move around too much.

Roman reached out and laced his fingers through Junior's hair. It was comfortable, and so Junior let his head tilt back so that it rested against Roman's knee. Neither of them said anything to each other for the time that they rested there. Junior was sure that if there was anyone that hadn't picked up on what was going on between himself and Roman at that point, then the cat was out of the bag now.

And that was a good thing. Junior was glad for it, and it was a chance where he was able to relax for a little bit and enjoy the time. Eventually the others would go home. Eventually, he was going to be asking for Roman to stay the night so that the two of them could just enjoy each other's company until the morning came around. After that, they were going to have a date to go on, and Junior was excited for whatever that would bring.

It was a soft feeling, a gentle stirring in the pit of Junior's stomach that stretched up into his chest cavity, and it whispered something to him that he was never going to be able to stop finding some comfort in. Junior's every instinct told him one thing and one thing alone.

Everything was going to be okay.

That was the thought that he was glad to let rush through his mind as the two of them sat there together. Eventually, Raven, Summer, and Taiyang decided that they were going home. He'd see them again in a few days, Junior was more than sure of it. James and Qrow slipped off to bed, with just a question whispered to him to ensure that it was fine if the Branwen stayed the night instead of going home with everyone else.

And that left him and Roman alone in the living room.

"Roman." Junior said quietly.

"Yeah, Baby bear?"

"Stay the night?"

Junior felt himself growing more and more worried with every second that passed the two of them by. He was just sitting there, waiting for Roman to say yes to him so that the two of them could go ahead and go to bed and just put the long day behind them. Really, that was all that Junior could have wanted and all that he could have asked for. All he wanted at the end of the day seemed to be Roman's acceptance.

And Roman did stand there for a moment, staring at him with a look of slight disbelief playing across his face before he finally decided to speak up and say something.

"You want me to stick around?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to be here." Junior confirmed, stepping in towards Roman and offering a hand to the other man. Roman smiled softly and reached out for him so that the two of them could hold hands for a moment. The orange headed man was staring up at him with a look of genuine care across his face.

"I'll stay the night if you want me to." Roman said quietly, taking Junior's hand and letting his thumb pass over Junior's knuckles. "I don't think I have a change of clothes, though."

That was a problem Junior realized, but he wasn't too worried about it. Normally he would have been somewhat concerned about it, but Junior seriously doubted that Roman was seriously worried about the issue. It was Roman- Junior was sure that he was just bringing it up because it was a chance to be playful.

"I'm tired." Junior said quietly, looking back over his shoulder to get a good look at the hallway that led down to their bedroom. Roman smiled softly and nodded, and then the two of them were slipping off to Junior's bedroom so that the two of them could curl in together and get some sleep.

"You are not the only one." Roman commented as he stepped backwards until the backs of his knees made contact with Junior's bed before he finally dropped down onto it. Junior felt his heart speed up a little bit at the realization of what he was feeling. After everything that had happened for them that day, Junior found himself wanting nothing more than to be close to Roman.

The time that they spent together in the car had only served to make that feeling more intense.

Now, seeing Roman in his bed, Junior could think of absolutely nothing that he wanted more than he wanted to be able to crawl in with the other man and sleep forever. There were a lot of things that hadn't gone well that day, and Junior was aware of that. But now he had a chance for the two of them to relax and breathe.

There was no chance for the two of them breathe during the day. Now they were going to be able to get by and rest.

So Junior took a few wary steps forward and sat down next to Roman, making himself comfortable on the bed at the other man's side. He wanted to reach out and pull Roman in close to him, but Junior didn't know that was something that he should have done.

Roman didn't say anything about it. He shifted and twisted his body so that the two of them could face each other, and Junior was happy to turn and meet him.

For a while, the two of them just laid there and enjoyed each other's company. They eventually allowed for themselves to draw in close to each other, and when the two of them finally went to sleep, Junior had Roman securely wrapped up in his arms to sleep.

And really,  there was nothing that could have made him happier and nothing that could have managed to comfort him after such a hard day. The fact that the two of them were able to enjoy each other's company for as long as they needed to only helped with things.

Junior was thankful to enjoy a dreamless night with someone that he loved wrapped up in his arms.

Really, that was all that he could have ever wanted.


	72. Keep Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Junior finally get that date. No strings attached.

Several days passed after the tournament, and for most of them Roman didn't hear so much as a word out of anyone attached to Xiong's Training and Fitness. He'd wanted to go and check the gym out and see how his friends were doing, but every time he'd gone in it had been too packed with people. It seemed like the tournament had really managed to be the catalyst that Xiong's needed, at least in the short term. The newspaper articles and the photo of Raven in the sports section had a little to do with it.

Roman decided that it was for the best for him to stay on the sidelines for as long as he needed to in order to keep the others happy. Besides, he thought, if he was going to have a good date with Junior at the end of the week and when that happened then they were going to be able to enjoy each other.

Absence made the heart grow fonder or something.

Work at the office wasn't so bad, and Roman found himself getting quick updates from Summer on how everyone was doing. According to her, Taiyang had managed to bounce back for the most part, Raven was enjoying the limelight to about the best of her ability (which wasn't all that much in truth,) and Summer was just happy to spend her time with them. The three of them had worked out… something. Roman hadn’t exactly gone ahead and asked for the specifics on the matter. 

He also hadn’t asked about Junior or James, if only because he wanted for his date with Junior to feel really rewarding when the two of them finally went out together.

The end of the week sped by so quickly that Roman all but lost track of it all entirely, and for Roman that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, he was glad to be able to spend some time alone as he tried to find what his next major project in the city was going to be. Nothing had come up just yet, but there was a nightclub that sounded like it could have used the careful hand of someone that knew what he was doing in the city. That wasn't so bad. If anything, it was a little closer to what he was used to and Roman couldn’t act like he didn’t like that about it.

Really, all that had changed after the tournament had been nothing in the grand scheme of things. Just things that had been expected to change were different.

That couldn't have been more apparent than when Roman found himself in the same restaurant that he and Junior had shared their first date in. The two of them found themselves at the same table that the two of them had shared on that first date, and the orders ended up being the same.

And so Roman stared across the table at Junior and smiled at the other man, waiting for his date to be the first one to say something about how things were going.

And when it finally happened, all of the awkwardness dissipated all too easily.

"So." Junior said quietly, smiling softly across the table at Roman with gentleness in his eyes that Junior couldn't ignore. "How have you been doing?"

Roman flashed Junior his best smile and relaxed a moment later. "Things have been good." Roman said quietly, shrugging and relaxing just slightly. "I was going to ask you the same question, you know that?"

"I figured as much." Junior said with a slight shrug. "Nothing too interesting at work, I hope?"

"No, nothing yet." Roman laughed, leaning back in his seat slightly and shrugging. "It's work. Not much to report there, really."

Roman couldn’t help but feel a momentary flash of guilt over what he’d said, but it was the honest to god truth- nothing had come up of interest at work, and he wasn’t really interested in talking about his own work, to be completely truthful. For Roman, he was much more interested in knowing about how Junior was doing- whether the man was eating and sleeping right, and all of the things that were probably a little more emotional than Roman should have been thinking to breach.

Junior nodded along in understanding, and Roman was more than glad for it.

"I get that," The other man said after a short moment's hesitation. "Hopefully whatever ends up being your next big job will be as interesting as we were." Junior's smile was soft, but Roman couldn't help but notice that there was a certain sort of nervousness that flit across Junior's expressions. That meant that there wasn't all that much that Roman could really go ahead and say at that point.

"Well, let me tell you, Baby Bear-" Roman started, turning on the charm as much as he possibly could for Junior's sake. "I can assure you that nothing would ever be as interesting." His eyes matched with Junior's and Roman felt the burst of something warm building up in his chest that reminded him all too easily of how happy Junior was able to make him. In that moment, Roman realized that he really could have seen himself spending the rest of his life with Junior at his side, regardless of whether that was a good idea or not.

So he reached out and offered Junior his hand, and Junior was quick to accept it and the two of them held each other close for the short time that they had together there. Roman gently stroked the back of Junior's hand with his thumb, enjoying the softness of Junior's knuckles under his touch as the two of them sat and relaxed.

Finally, Roman decided that it was a good time for him to speak again.

"Nothing would ever be as rewarding as being with you guys have been."  He finally explained himself, and Roman was sure that he saw his partner's cheeks begin to pinken. It made him so much happier to be there with him. "Especially you."

"Well," Junior said with a slight shrug and pulled his eyes away from Roman's. "I guess that's good for me then?"

"Yes," Roman laughed, feeling that burst of warmth down in his chest once more. "I like being able to be with you, Junior. I try not to make a habit of getting into bed with my bosses, you know."

"Well," Junior said quietly, picking up his glass of water and taking a sip from it. "I can tell you that I don't make a habit of dating my employees either." Junior swallowed and set the glass back down beside him, and Roman was content to sit back and wait for something to be said. Really, Roman thought to himself, it was much better if he was able to keep a steady rapport with Junior for the time that they were there together. "I guess we can finally do this together, can't we?"

"We can." Roman said, smiling softly across at Junior. "I'm sure that things are changing for you at work, and I want to let you know that I'm happy to be around to help if you ever need me." He hesitated for a long moment, feeling a distinct urge to remind Junior that this was a friendly offer, not an offer to work for Junior without a contract. "As favors, of course." Roman finished, grinning widely across the table at Junior. "If you ever need me, just say the word and I'm here. Now that I’m back to working with clubs I’m sure I won’t mind a break once in awhile."

Junior nodded and smiled softly. It seemed like there was something turning in his mind as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say to Roman, and Roman was more than glad to wait it out. Really, he felt like he was finally getting his happy ending after so much time working with everyone at Xiong's. "You know that you're always welcome around us."

"I do." Roman smiled a little bit wider. "I just hope that this isn't going to be a purely work based relationship."

"I wasn't intending it to be." JUunior said finally with a soft smile. "Roman-"

"Yes?"

"I just..." Junior's voice trailed off for a moment, and his grey eyes flicked away from Roman for just a moment as the two of them sat there together. "I wanted to let you know that I love you. And that I'm really glad to have been able to have you around to help us through all of this."

Roman knew that his eyes widened a little bit, and he leaned in just slightly to get just a little bit closer to Junior. Really, this was what he'd been waiting for for a long time, and Roman knew fully well that there was going to be no getting around it. He felt the same way, it was just now it was on the table and the two of them were finally able to talk about it.

So he twined his fingers with Junior's and gave a gentle squeeze, enjoying the other man's warmth before finally speaking up. "I love you too," Roman said, dropping his volume just slightly if only because it meant that he was going to feel just a little bit more comfortable in that shared space between them. Really, this was all that he wanted. "And I'm glad that I've been able to help you guys out around the gym." His voice trailed off for a moment, and Roman wanted to ask about the others and see how they were doing. But for the time being, he didn't know whether or not he wanted to keep going and draw the conversation away from himself and Junior's relationship. "I'm glad to have been able to be there for all of you, really."

Junior nodded and smiled. "We're glad to have you help us out too." He said quietly, leaning back in his seat just slightly as he made himself a little bit more comfortable in the space where the of them were sitting. "We wouldn't have done anywhere near as well as we did without you around, I don't think. Regardless of whether or not you helped us in the ring itself."

Roman squeezed Junior's hand one more time before the two of them finally took the chance to separate and relax again. Their meals were sure to be arriving soon, and when that happened then he didn't know what he was going to have to deal with. But for now, Roman was so glad that the two of them were going to have their time together.

"I want to be able to help again," Roman said quietly. "But mostly I think that you're just..." He paused, wondering whether or not he was saying too much or crossing some sort of boundary. But when he looked up into Junior's eyes he saw nothing but warmth and love, a sea of darkness and the black of night full of stars. It was all that Roman really needed, and he was sure that in a way Junior was going to be all that he ever needed. That was just how Junior was.

Roman wasn't going to let him go, he was more than sure of it.

So finally he smiled softly across at Junior and shrugged slightly "I think that you're what I want more than anything else."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a long time coming. I originally started this story with an idea in mind and absolutely zero idea where the plot was going for the most part, and now that it's over I don't really know what to say. 
> 
> I just want to thank everyone that's come along on this journey with me, and has read along and commented and also heard me whine/complain/whatever about this fic at various points in time. 
> 
> You're all wonderful. Keep moving forward. Thank you for being here.
> 
> I hope that this story has made you as happy as it has made me.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love <3
> 
> [I'm on tumblr. Sometimes stuff happens. I'm always willing to take questions there!](http://tyrian-callows.tumblr.com/)


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